BIRTHDAY WISHES: Bill Bruford was born today in 1949 in Sevenoaks, Kent, UK Bill Bruford is a founding member of the progressive rock group Yes and was a member of King Crimson in three different incarnations over the course of three different decades. Bill has also recorded and toured with other groups like Gong, National Health, Genesis and U.K. as well as his own bands, Bruford and Earthworks. Bill Bruford became interested in drumming at the age of 13 after watching American jazz drummers of the 1960s on BBC TV on Saturday evenings. His sister then gave him his first pair of brushes as a present. After a handful of lessons from Lou Pocock of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, he began his professional career in 1968. Bill is also composer, producer and a leading innovator in the world of electronic percussion. He was an early supporter of incorporating electronic drums with acoustic drums and created unusual hybrid kits that consisted of electronic pads, rototoms, a gong bass drum, Octobans, acoustic cymbals, electronic hi-hat, and electronic and acoustic bass drums. Besides his unique setups, Bills drumming approach has always been outside of the box as well - playing prog on a small 4 or 5 piece kit instead of the usual large setup associated with that genre of music, utilizing more of a jazz tuning when playing rock, and incorporating keyboard sounding chordal drums before MIDI technology even existed. Bill has said that he never acquired drum technique for the sake of acquiring it, but as a solution to a particular problem. If he heard something that he couldnt do, he would learn how to do it. Incredibly modest, Bill acknowledges that he suffers from the classic amateurs technique, meaning that he knows some very difficult bits but that he has some large gaping holes in his knowledge. However, he believes his amateurism has been helpful in forging a unique style because he has had to work around his weaknesses. While Bill officially retired from public performance on January 1, 2009 after 41 years as a professional musician, he continues to record and run his two record labels. He has three grown children and lives in England with his wife of over 40 years. Bill Bruford was recently voted one of The 50 Greatest Drummers of All Time by the readers of Modern Drummer Magazine. He is truly one of a kind!
Posted on: Sat, 17 May 2014 15:37:16 +0000
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