After stints in Yes and King Crimson, drummer Bill Bruford launched his own ensemble, Bruford, in the late 1970s and steered the project firmly into jazz-rock and fusion territory. The core unit consisted of Bruford on drums and percussion (among them vibraphone), keyboardist Dave Stewart (formerly of Egg, Hatfield and the North, and National Health), guitarist Allan Holdsworth (ex-Soft Machine, Gong, and the Tony Williams band), and bassist Jeff Berlin. Their first statement appeared on Feels Good to Me, which also featured guest contributions from vocalist Annette Peacock, flügelhornist Kenny Wheeler, and guitarist John Goodsall of Brand X.
The album was tracked at Trident Studios in London during 1977—the same studio and year in which Bruford and Holdsworth participated in the debut recording by the progressive-rock supergroup U.K. alongside John Wetton and Eddie Jobson—before its release on Editions EG in 1978. That disc marked both Bruford’s initial solo outing and the inaugural release by the band itself, which followed with One of a Kind in 1979, captured at Trident the preceding January. The latter set retained the quartet lineup of Bruford, Stewart, Holdsworth, and Berlin; however, Holdsworth exited in spring 1979 and was succeeded by guitarist John Clark, whose phrasing and tone closely mirrored those of his predecessor. Clark’s first recording with the group, Gradually Going Tornado (1980), additionally spotlighted Berlin’s vocal work.
A 1979 radio broadcast from New York City featuring the band with Clark on guitar later surfaced as The Bruford Tapes in 1980. By September of that year the ensemble had dissolved, reportedly under pressure from Editions EG management dissatisfied with its commercial returns. The next year Bruford joined the reconstituted King Crimson that included Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, and Tony Levin. Material from the Bruford years resurfaced in 1986 on the compilation Master Strokes: 1978-1985. In the mid-1980s Bruford formed a new ensemble, Earthworks, whose sound leaned even more decisively toward jazz; the group debuted with a self-titled album in 1987.
