Drums
Bill Bruford
A restless drummer and bandleader whose jazz instincts sit beside a long history of rock innovation.
Internationally known as a rock musician, drummer Bill Bruford also has deep jazz credentials, having recorded, performed with, or written music for Al Di Meola, the Buddy Rich Orchestra, David Torn, Allan Holdsworth, Tim Garland, Django Bates, Iain Ballamy, and Chris Botti among others.
Early success led into a 40-year career as a bandleader and writer. His groups Bruford and Earthworks helped push advanced harmony in rock, electronics and odd metres in electric jazz, and stylistic invention in acoustic jazz.
Bill's taste for unpredictable live performance has led him to collaborations with leading rock and jazz musicians in a long search for the innovative, the unusual, and the unlikely.
He was voted into Modern Drummer magazine's Hall of Fame in 1990, named by Rolling Stone as one of the greatest drummers of all time in 2016, and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Yes in 2017.
Straddling jazz and rock, his recorded work is documented through Summerfold and Winterfold Records, his YouTube channel, and billbruford.com. In the Pete Roth Trio, that history is placed inside a small, responsive, risk-friendly group.