This is a rich feast – the product of half a century of steady labour at the coalface of rock and jazz drumming. Have a leisurely browse through the audio and visual samples, archive photos and interviews, extensive FAQs, equipment, reviews, shop and much more, here at the best online resource for all things Bruford.
Reviews, Audio Samples, Interviews and the Timeline have all been refreshed. In Academia offers a link to my academic profile, and a Books section collates my literary output. The Archive section gathers a mass of information and opinion about everything from drum technique to dealing with booking agents; from reflective pieces on my several bands to thoughts on electronics, the future and where all this is going. Whether explaining jazz to rockers, rock to jazzers, or the whole thing to my grandchildren, I try to do it as honestly and accurately as possible.
Interviews, Reviews and Archive are predominantly of historical interest. Opinions change, and seldom hold good for long, but any wisdom I manage to impart is born of experience. While my 1977 views on progressive rock, for example, might not be of interest to all, they act as a small but significant explanatory marker of how I got from there to here.
I regret that I’m no longer available for chitchat, advice or to review your work, but you are encouraged to leave comments for discussion on the Facebook page. I’d encourage you to subscribe to my YouTube Channel, home to hundreds of live performances.
This resource will occasionally be updated as developments may dictate. I hope you enjoy it.
ONLY A SPRINKLING of tickets remaining for the five upcoming UK dates of The PETE ROTH TRIO feat. Bill Bruford. The 2026 touring schedule opens tomorrow in Bristol on Sunday January 18th (below).
Come and hear what all the fuss is about! Intimate, interactive, unruly. In Bristol, Darlington, Knutsford, Leeds, Gosforth.
Tour dates and tickets: www.peterothtrio.com … See MoreSee Less
The Spring touring season is shaping up nicely for the Pete Roth Trio feat. Bill Bruford! What better way to start the New Year than to get some tickets in, so you’ve got something to look forward to?
“Jazz, funk, contemporary classical, Dvořák. Nothing is sacred. It’s not retro. It’s not comfortable. It’s just brilliantly unruly”. Fasching Club, Stockholm, Sweden.
www.peterothtrio.com/tour-dates-and-tickets … See MoreSee Less
INTIMATE! INTERACTIVE! UNRULY! … See MoreSee Less
This week we move to the tenth of eleven videos in our occasional SOLO SPOTIGHT series. The series kicked off on July 19th 2024 with a solo from Perpetual Change on the 1972 Yessongs album. The intention is to tell a story about how much has changed within drums, drumming and drummers in the last five or six decades. The variety of solos Bill has come up with incorporate some of those changes. We’ve arrived at 2005.
Video premieres on Friday January 9th at our new UK time of 3.00 pm. As always, if you enjoy what you see and hear, please ‘like’ and subscribe to the channel so we can bring you more good stuff!
… See MoreSee Less
The Spring touring season is shaping up nicely for the Pete Roth Trio feat. Bill Bruford! What better way to start the New Year than to get some tickets in, so you’ve got something to look forward to?
“Jazz, funk, contemporary classical, Dvořák. Nothing is sacred. It’s not retro. It’s not comfortable. It’s just brilliantly unruly”. Fasching Club, Stockholm, Sweden.
www.peterothtrio.com/tour-dates-and-tickets … See MoreSee Less
Claudio, from the fab Chilean magazine Progjazz.org, tells us that “according to our website metrics for 2025, the interview we published with Bill Bruford … was the most viewed interview of the entire year, and it ranked second overall among all articles on our site”. SO WHO WAS THE FIRST!!!
“Bill Bruford, the godfather of progressive drumming, made a strong impact with his interview, where he spoke openly and without filters about creativity, craft, and ideas without boundaries. It stands as one of the best interviews we have done, thanks to the remarkable eloquence and intelligence of Mr. Bruford.” Flattery will get you everywhere!
www.progjazz.org/bruford-entrevista/, but good luck with the lumpy translation from Spanish into English. … See MoreSee Less
FROM BILL:
Season's Greetings y'all! Thank you for your messages and cards, and may your 2026 bring you and your loved ones happiness, health and prosperity.
For our many new subscribers, just a word of explanation about my YouTube Channel. We’ve assembled a small mountain of archive performance footage there, dating back over fifty years.
Much of my time recently has been spent in collecting, curating, describing and uploading some 280 videos. Next year will see that effort redouble. Writing the descriptions accompanying each item has been as illuminating for me as I hope it is for you.
The author Henry Miller suggested once that we all leave a scar upon the face of the world. Some of us try to atone for it through right work before we leave.
These videos provide evidence of one musician’s micro-efforts to repair, through music, the scar he’s made. As one of our 92,000 subscribers, you support and bear witness to these unsatisfactory strivings, for which I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your support means a lot.
Image: Stefano Celiberti. … See MoreSee Less
THIS DATE IN HISTORY: Many groups never get one appearance at the famous Royal Albert Hall in London’s Kensington, let alone two, three weeks apart. If you’d been hanging around town 57 years ago on December 19th 1968, you could have picked up a ticket to see a manic star-studded Charity bash at the venue for the pitiful sum of £2 (about 3 USD. See preview of the show below). Fresh from their triumph supporting Cream at their farewell concert, a brand new group called YES was suddenly everywhere, with a certain curly-haired young man on drums. Image of YES by David Gahr. Preview from the London Observer of 08.12.1968. … See MoreSee Less
GREAT to announce that the Pete Roth Trio feat Bill Bruford will be visiting the NORTH EAST UK JANUARY 27th-30th 2026. They’re stoked and ready for more! With Bristol Beacon confirmed on January 18th, it’s practically a tour. Tickets and dates:
www.peterothtrio.com/tour-dates-and-tickets … See MoreSee Less