REV: Pete Roth Trio, 1 Nov 2024

I happened to be looking straight at Bill Bruford the moment he started playing, kicking off the Pete Roth Trio’s evening at the Hampstead Jazz Club. He had a huge smile on his face. That, I think, is the story of the night.

For over a decade, Bruford had put down the drumsticks. However, in 2022, he started playing again, working with guitarist Pete Roth, who many years before had been a drum tech for Bruford in Earthworks. That was just in a rehearsal space. The band, with basically no publicity, then started playing in front of audiences in 2023. It is only now that the band are doing any serious promotion, and playing a short tour in England. More dates follow in 2025, in the UK and possibly Europe.

The Hampstead Jazz Club is a cramped basement below a pub, with a capacity of 50 people. The trio were squished into the performance space, Roth’s guitar banging against the ceiling when he took it off. Nothing about the performance context would have let on that Bruford once played to packed arenas. And that's how he wants it. Reading his autobiography, it is apparent how unhappy he was before his retirement with all the stuff around the performance, the organisation, the repetitive interviews, the endless business paperwork. But here the band are having fun. (Before the final piece, Roth was talking to the audience: “as you can hopefully see, this is a fun project. We are enjoying ourselves.” Bruford then interjected, “I’m here for the money!”)

The earlier part of the set suggested that Bruford was picking up where he left off: a small acoustic drum kit, playing jazz. This was an improvisational set, using standards plus themes from classical music as a starting point, including Charlie Parker’s "Billy's Bounce", Gershwin’s "Summertime", Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 and Bruford’s own "If Summer had its Ghosts". I keep talking about Bruford, because, let’s face it, that’s why you’re reading this, but this is a trio. All three were intent on each other’s playing. Roth leads the band with dextrous guitar playing, using a variety of effects to go from cleaner playing to something much more fuzzed out. Mike Pratt on bass took solos too and could lead the groove.

Halfway through and we got the first piece by the band, “Trio of 5”. (Roth explained this was the first piece they wrote together. They decided to write a blues, with Bruford suggesting using 5 time.) Two more band pieces followed in the latter half of the set: “Full Circle” (Roth: “at the beginning, Bill had this absolutely killer groove, and the two of them grooving, and I did something probably rather ‘nice’ to it, and Bill said, ‘No, we need a crazy chord there,’ so I hope the chords were crazy enough”) and “Looking Forward to Looking Back”, interspersed with more standards, like Wayne Shorter’s “Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum”. It was with “Full Circle” and “Looking Forward to Looking Back” that other elements in the music became more apparent. Roth’s playing became more aggressive. “Looking Forward to Looking Back” is a multi-part piece with echoes of progressive rock to it. Roth in conversation after the show was explicit about how they incorporated prog and other elements as well as jazz.

Roth likened them to a “garage band” and said the group was very new and they were still working out what to do, but that there is “lots of laughing and joking at rehearsals”. They are having fun, and you will to if you go see them.

I saw the show with Simon Barrow: check out his review for Edinburgh Music Review.

The Pete Roth Trio, with Pete Roth (electric guitars), Mike Pratt (electric bass) and Bill Bruford (drum kit). Set: "Billy's Bounce" (originally by Charlie Parker), uncertain (possibly something by Chopin), "If Summer had its Ghosts", "Summertime" (originally by Gershwin), improvisation on the largo movement of Dvořák's Symphony No. 9, "Trio of 5", another Charlie Parker piece, "Full Circle", "Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum" (originally by Wayne Shorter), "Looking Forward to Looking Back", unidentified.

Immersive world premiere of The Yes Album

To promote the new super deluxe edition of The Yes Album, a small audience - whoever saw the social media announcement and answered quickest! - were treated to the world premiere of the immersive mix at L-Acoustics in Highgate, London (very close to where I went to school). There was a 6pm and an 8pm "performance" and I was lucky enough to get into the 6pm.

The venue is a lovely demonstration studio for L-Acoustics, who do speakers for venues and high end clients. They had earlier done one of the listening events for Steven Wilson's The Harmony Codex here. They welcomed us with a nice selection of complimentary beverages. The listening room is equipped with 18 speakers in the walls, 12 in the ceiling and (playing the same channel) 24 subwoofers. There was seating for, I estimate, a bit over 30. Also present were some people from Yes management and YesWorld, Jerry Ewing and others from Prog magazine, and a special guest in the form of Bill Bruford. Steven Wilson had been meant to be there, but a last minute problem kept him away. (We saw Nick Beggs on the way out, there for the 8pm slot.)

We were plunged into darkness for the playthrough of the album, start to finish. Afterwards, Wilson had been to interview Bruford, but instead the lady from L-Acoustics chaired and Bruford took questions from the audience.

Bruford was delightful. He talked about enjoying listening to the album, but he wasn't certain whether that was the music, or the memory of its creation, or the memory of its performance. He talked about recording the album, but stressed how long ago it was and that his memories were vague in places.

He talked of recording on 16 tracks, of which Howe got seven, when he only got three! He talked of still being very new to the recording process, and of how the recording seemed to take so long, although he wasn't certain whether his memory of the time taken was of this album, or the one after, or the one after. They were aware that the recording was costing significant money. He described how the first two albums had flopped, so The Yes Album was both a new start and a last chance. Thus the presentation of The Yes Album, as if it were a debut. He said he had to record the drum parts first, as was the drummer's situation then, not knowing, having to guess, what would be recorded on top of that drum part later.

I asked a question about the very simple drum part on "Your Move", compared to what he plays on the rest of the album. He said he couldn't remember the decision making behind that, but he was glad he had chosen to do that as it left space for Colin Goldring's (four) recorder parts. He said they had initially tried a Mellotron and how in another band, they probably would have left it there, but Jon Anderson  was always pushing and so instead they got a real person. 

Bruford also talked of Keith Emerson recording downstairs, so there is a bit of Emerson's Moog used on one song. (I think he said it was on "Perpetual Change".) He talked about Kaye not speaking up and fighting his corner as Wakeman later would, and so his role in the music was more in the background.

In terms of promoting the new release, with its Atmos and 5.1 mixes, I don't know how useful an event like this is. Unless you have a room with 54 speakers in it, I presume the album is not going to sound the same at home! It definitely sounded fantastic for us. If we can presume that you get a reasonable approximation with a home set-up, then, yes, I can recommend the immersive mix. The instruments, the different tracks, are super clear. What the immersive mix brings is separation. That meant I was hearing details I had never heard before.

At the same time, the separation can also make the music sound less connected. For example, in "Yours is No Disgrace", Kaye's organ was to the side, which felt wrong to my ears, like it wasn't part of the music in the same way. Bruford commented similarly. He felt the drums sounded distanced from the rest of the performance, whereas he prefers a live jazz recording where you can hear the drums tight in with the other instruments.

As Bruford also commented, the mix would sometimes shoot the different guitar parts around the room. In places, I felt that gave an "impossible" effect. It makes you conscious that this can't be a live performance, because Howe can't be in two places at once. But one can always quibble over mixing choices. Overall, it's amazing how good a recording from 1970 can sound and I applaud Wilson's work. If you don't have a surround sound set-up, I'm not certain the boxset has enough new to justify the price tag, but there is a cheaper digital version that will be available.

Poll: What was the best Yes-related release of the second half of 2022? Round three

There were 20 Yes-related albums released in the second half of 2022, so instead of a single poll, we're going through them in three rounds, with the top 2 from each round going through to the final. The final round covered everything remaining after the first two rounds. 33 of you voted, but because of a logistical problem, only the first 25 votes recorded! So the (partial) results were:

1. Bill Bruford's Earthworks: Live at the Schauburg Bremen 1987 - 9 votes (36%)

2. Seal: Seal Dolby Atmos mix (w/ Horn) - 7 votes (28%)

3. Dave Kerzner: The Traveler Singles (w/ Sherwood, Davison) - 5 votes (20%)

4= various artists: Synthesizer Classics (w/ Downes, Wakeman R, Moraz) - 2 votes (8%)

4= Flash: Live in the USA (w/ Banks) - 2 votes (8%)

6= Fernando Perdomo: Frost Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (w/ Wakeman R, Downes) - 0 votes (0%)

6= Munroe's Thunder: The Black Watch (w/ O Wakeman) - 0 votes (0%)

That means Live at the Schauburg Bremen 1987 and the Dolby Atmos mix of Seal join Rick Wakeman's A Gallery of the Imagination, Carly Rae Jepsen's The Loneliest Time, Prog Collective's Seeking Peace and Virgil & Steve Howe's Lunar Mist in the final, which will be held once I work out the problem with recording votes!

Yes 50th anniversary Soho plaque

On 3 August 1968, Yes played their first show under that name, having evolved from a succession of Mabel Greer's Toyshop line-ups. Before that first show, they hired a basement room under The Lucky Horseshoe Café in Soho (now the Wildwood restaurant) and it was from there they set off for their debut.

50 years later, Bill Bruford returned to that room to unveil a plaque on the wall commemorating the event, organised by David Watkinson with YesWorld. About 40 of us gathered to celebrate the moment, including David, Chris Squire's brother and sister (the latter of whom was there on 3 August 1968), journalist and long-time Yes supporter Chris Welch, Yes book author Simon Barrow, Yes Music Podcast's Kevin Mulryne, and many fans, including one who started following the band when they were still Mabel Greer's!

(l.-r. Simon Barrow, Bill Bruford, Chris Squire's brother, Chris Welch)

After a few minutes while everyone tried to cool down, David began proceedings.

(l.-r. Kevin Mulryne filming, Bill Bruford, David Watkinson, Squire's brother and sister, Chris Welch)

Squire's brother spoke first, telling the Jimi Hendrix anecdote, and asked all to raise a glass to Chris Squire and to Peter Banks. His sister said a few words next, followed by Chris Welch, who talked about how he was introduced to the band.

Next, Bruford talked about those beginnings, rehearsing in the room in a fug of cigarette smoke, the bass drum filling up with empty cigarette packets. And the many disagreements! In one row, Squire asked Bruford how long he had been a professional musician: Bruford said one year, to which Squire pointed out he had been doing it for three years, which seemed a lot at the time! Bruford then took a few questions from the audience and it was on to the unveiling.

Bruford talked to fans afterwards, before leaving, while the rest of us retired for a pleasant lunch, to chat about the issues of the day ("Fragile", can Yes continue forever, why do some Yes fans get to aggressive online).

The art in the restaurant had some odd hints of the venue's significance...

("The Heart of the Sunset" was a popular 1920s piece by Horatio Nicholls. I wonder whether it was an influence when naming "Heart of the Sunrise".)

Poll: What was the best Yes-related album of 1987?

What was the best Yes-related album of 1987? 67 of you expressed a preference...

1. Bill Bruford's Earthworks: Earthworks, 21 votes (31%)
2. Geoff Downes: The Light Program, 14 votes (21%)
3. Esquire: Esquire (w/ Squire, Horn, White), 9 votes (13%)
4. Wetton/Manzanera: Wetton/Manzanera, a.k.a. One World (w/ White), 8 votes (12%)
5. David Torn: Cloud About Mercury (w/ Bruford), 7 votes (10%)
6. Rick Wakeman: The Gospels, 3 votes (4%)
7. Gowan: Great Dirty World (w/ Anderson), 2 votes (3%)
8= The New Percussion Group of Amsterdam: Go Between (w/ Bruford), 1 vote (1%)
8= Kazumi Watanabe: The Spice of Life (w/ Bruford), 1 vote (1%)
8= Marc Jordan: Talking Through Pictures (w/ Rabin), 1 vote (1%)

There were no votes for Lisa Hartman's 'Til My Heart Stops (with Rabin) or Rick Wakeman's The Family Album, famous for being the origin of ABWH's "The Meeting".

A busy year for Bruford with three strong albums, but it's the Earthworks debut that wins. Downes' The Light Program comes second, which cheered me as I often think it's an overlooked release.

Poll: Best Yes-related album of 1978

Well, that was even more conclusive than Fish Out of Water's win in the 1975 poll or Olias of Sunhillow's in the 1976 poll. There were 67 votes (I could have left the poll open longer, but what was the point?):

1. UK: UK (w/ Bruford): 57 votes (85%)
2. Patrick Moraz: Patrick Moraz III: 5 votes (7%)
3. Trevor Rabin: Trevor Rabin [a.k.a. Beginnings]: 4 votes (6%)
4. Annette Peacock: X-Dreams (w/ Bruford): 1 votes (1%)

There were no votes for Lonnie Donegan's Puttin' on the Style (with Banks), Chromium's Star to Star (The Buggles before The Buggles) or three long out-of-print albums with Rabin, Disco Rock Machine's Time to Love, The Tee Cee's Disco Love Bite or Forbidden Fruit by Hot R.S.

UK fans may be interested in Eddie Jobson's crowdsourced deluxe re-issue plans: see here on the news page.

Poll: Best Yes-related album of 1977

93 of you voted on the question of the best Yes-related album of 1977:

1. Rick Wakeman: Criminal Record (w/ Squire, White): 32 (34%)
2. Bill Bruford: Feels Good to Me: 30 (32%)
3. Genesis: Seconds Out (w/ Bruford): 24 (26%)
4. Rick Wakeman: White Rock: 3 (3%)
5= Patrick Moraz: Out in the Sun: 2 (2%)
5= Rabbitt: A Croak and a Grunt in the Night (w/ Rabin): 2 (2%)

There were no votes for the two Detective albums with Kaye, nor for two other albums with Rabin, Rabbitt's Rock Rabbitt and House of the Rising Sun, released under the name Hot R.S.

Criminal Record, perhaps Wakeman's last really successful album, led throughout, although the result was close in the end with Bruford's first solo album challenging, and Bruford's turn with Genesis not far behind. (Thus Bruford appearances overall outpolled Wakeman appearances.) Nothing else got any serious attention.

Poll: Best Yes-related album of 2014, part 2

We got 65 votes in total for the best Yes-related album of the latter half of 2014:

1) King Crimson: Starless (w/ Bruford): 15 (23%)
2) Mystery: Tales from the Netherlands (w/ David): 14 (22%)
3) Todmobile: Úlfur (w/ Anderson): 12 (18%)
4) United Progressive Fraternity: Fall in Love with the World (w/ Anderson): 9 (14%)
5) Dave Kerzner: New World (w/ Sherwood): 4 (6%)
6) Empire: The Mars Tapes (w/ Banks): 3 (5%)
7) Billy Idol: Kings & Queens of the Underground (w/ Horn, Downes): 2 (3%)
8=) Jerusalem: Black Horses (w/ Downes) 1 (2%)
8=) DuskMachine: DuskMachine (w/ Downes) 1 (2%)

There were no votes for Spandau Ballet's The Story: The Very Best of Spandau Ballet (with new tracks produced by Trevor Horn) or two further releases involving Billy Sherwood, Queensrÿche feat. Geoff Tate's Frequency Unknown Deluxe Edition and Spiders & Snakes' Year of the Snake. There were 4 'other' votes, but they were blank or for ineligible entries... which was partly my fault as I mislabelled the poll the begin with!

A very close result, with the latest King Crimson mega-boxset just winning out over the live Mystery album, and then two releases with Jon Anderson guesting, Todmobile's Úlfur (my personal choice) and United Progressive Fraternity's Fall in Love with the World (another good album, but with a more fleeting appearing by Anderson). I wonder whether Úlfur would have done better if it had had some more significant promotion behind it; I don't think Anderson himself ever mentioned it!

Given David's retirement from music, Tales from the Netherlands may be the last release we ever get with him performing, so nice to see it was well received.

Poll: Best Yes-related album of 1975

Hello again. Sorry for slow updates lately on the website and blog. Normal service will be resumed shortly.

Every poll I've run including Fish Out of Water has been won by Fish Out of Water. The best Yes-related album of 1975 poll was no different. Out of 93 votes:

1. Chris Squire: Fish Out of Water (w/ Bruford, Moraz): 67 votes (72%)
2. Rick Wakeman: The Myths & Legends of King Arthur...: 9 votes (10%)
3= Steve Howe: Beginnings (w/ Bruford, Moraz, White): 6 votes (6%)
3= Vangelis: Heaven and Hell (w/ Anderson): 6 votes (6%)
5. King Crimson: USA (w/ Bruford): 3 votes (3%)
6= Rabbitt: Boys will be Boys (w/ Rabin): 1 vote (1%)
6= Roy Harper: HQ/When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease (w/ Bruford): 1 vote (1%)
8= Rick Wakeman: Lisztomania: 0 votes
8= Flash Fearless Versus The Zorg Women, Parts 5 & 6 (w/ Bruford): 0 votes
8= Peter and the Wolf (w/ Bruford): 0 votes

Pretty conclusive.

pianocircus play Skin & Wire

Last night, we saw a one-off show by piano sextet pianocircus (David Appleton, Paul Cassidy, Kate Halsall, Dawn Hardwick, Semra Kurutaç and James T Young) at King's Place, the relatively new arts venue behind King's Cross station. The first half of the show was pieces by Colin Riley, including two taken from Skin & Wire: pianocircus featuring Bill Bruford play the music of Colin Riley. Bruford was in attendance, three seats to my right in fact, but not performing. I'd estimate the total audience at a bit over 100.

The evening opened with "Squiggle Zipper", a jarring, discordant piece from Skin & Wire and, I felt, the weakest performance of the evening. The timbral variation provided by the drums and more on the album version work better for me than the piano/synth-only version here. Visuals throughout the first half were supplied by William Simpson and Simon McCorry, with "Squiggle Zipper" being accompanied by an effective abstract grid flashing blue and white with the music. "Ebb Cast", the second Skin & Wire piece, followed and was much more successful. An evocative mood piece, it went beautifully with Simpson/McCorry's soothing yet bizarre 'tentacled' cows video. This showed cows slowly grazing in the early morning, or perhaps late evening, yet the video was heavily processed. In particular, there were multiple echoes of every movement, so as a cow lifted its head, a succession of superimposed cow heads went through the same action. As the cows ambled past, this gave the impression of a mass of tentacles flowing below.

Ending the first half was the world premiere of Riley's "Double Trio". For this piece, two pianocircus members played grand pianos, each with another member standing and reaching into the piano's innards. The remaining two were mostly on synths. The first movement saw the standing performers drumming away on the piano's bass strings, this percussive element working well against the keyboard play for a dynamic opening. In the second movement, the standing performers instead banged on the struts of the piano soundboards, which gave a change in sound compared to the first movement, but they struggled to achieve sufficient volume. The last movement was slower, with a range of manipulations of the piano strings, holding them to shorten the vibrating length when played, or plucking them directly. The visuals were lightly processed views, generally looking straight down into the piano. An interesting piece overall, visually exciting, but I felt we'd had a weaker second movement.

Part two of the evening saw the ensemble in its more familiar arrangement, six synths-as-pianos in a circle, facing inwards. The programme was drawn from Graham Fitkin's post-minimalist works of 1989-90. These fast, dynamic, interlocking piano pieces are what pianocircus are perhaps best known for. Well-performed, exciting and sometimes almost trance-like; a much enjoyed second set.

ABW... R?

Online fan discussion continues to be dominated by Rick Wakeman's announcement of a project with Trevor Rabin and other ex-Yesmen. Wakeman seems to have confirmed Jon Anderson as the third man, as widely predicted. Now, the March 2010 issue of Classic Rock Presents... Prog claims Bill Bruford will come out of retirement as the fourth member of this group.

I like Prog magazine, but my gut feeling is they're wrong. It would be a dramatic volte face for Bruford, who has so firmly retired and who has so often made clear a complete lack of desire to ever re-join Yes. That said, it wouldn't be the most surprising turn of events in the story of Yes...

[18 Mar update: Bruford has now denied his involvement.]

The possibility of ABWR has seen comparisons drawn to the original ABWH, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, the rival Yes line-up formed in 1989. The pull of the historical parallels is so strong that fans seem almost to presume that the bass player will be Tony Levin (or Jeff Berlin) again, that Bruford will play electronic drums again, that there will be a tour of Yes music plus again and an almost inevitable new Union with the current Yes line-up.

Stop! Do not be taken in by these fantasies. ABWH was 21 years ago. 21 years is as long as the time between Yes's first album, Yes, and ABWH! We're in a completely different context now and there's little reason to expect this to unfold in a similar way. I wouldn't be surprised to see Anderson and R. Wakeman back on stage with Howe/Squire/White at some point - the nostalgia will always exert a powerful gravitational pull - but I expect an ABWR, or AWR, in 2011 to be a very different beast to ABWH in 1989. Let's wait for a new story to unfold rather than trying to force it into the shape of an old one.

Henry