Bill Brufford

Bill Bruford's career is like his drumming sound -- inimitable. Known for his ringing metal snare drum, crisp cymbal work, and knack for complex time signatures, a young Bruford came to prominence in the late '60s with Yes. The drummer completed his British art rock trilogy by briefly joining Genesis in the 1970s and spending a quarter-century with King Crimson through the late '90s. In between King Crimson dates, Bruford led a dazzling self-titled jazz fusion solo band from 1978 to 1980 that featured guitarist Allan Holdsworth, bassist Jeff Berlin, and keyboardist Dave Stewart. And even as he leads his visionary jazz band, Bill Bruford's Earthworks, he maintains a career as a session drummer (with artists like guitarists Al DiMeola and David Torn, bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and keyboardist Patrick Moraz).
During one of King Crimson leader Robert Fripp's several lineup-shifting hiatuses in Bruford's 1972-1997 tenure, the drummer formed his self-titled Earthworks band in 1986. On its 1987 Earthworks debut album, Bruford often used electric Simmons drums to contrast acoustic horn players Iain Ballamy and Django Bates and upright bassist Mick Hutton, achieving the opposite of the standard lineup where drums are the only acoustic instrument. Subsequent releases like 1989's Dig? and 1991's All Heaven Broke Loose continued this forward-thinking trend, blending acoustic and electric instrumentation and jazz ideology with classical undertones. But by 1993's live Stamping Ground, Bruford had replaced Hutton with electric/acoustic bassist Tim Harries and was using keyboard-pitched electric chordal drums, the combined result being a more muscular and fuller sound.
Bruford continued recording and touring with King Crimson through 1997, releasing the Earthworks compilation Heavenly Bodies just as he quit the venerable rock band with which he'd had his longest tenure. It would prove to be a transitional year, as Bruford recorded a jazz chamber trio solo CD called If Summer Had Its Ghosts with legendary jazz figures Ralph Towner (guitar/piano) and Eddie Gomez (acoustic bass). Between explorative electric recordings with bassist and fellow King Crimson alum Tony Levin, Bruford kept Earthworks closer to the chamber jazz mode on the 1999 CD A Part and Yet Apart. Likewise, the lineup of Bruford, saxophonist Patrick Clahar, pianist Steve Hamilton, and bassist Mark Hodgson started the new millennium with the 2001 CD The Sound of Surprise, an outstanding blend of jazz tradition and forward-thinking transition.

Source: All Music.com.

Al Di Meola "Consequence of chaos" (2006)

The Al Di Meola Project "Kiss my axe" (1991)

Al Di Meola "Elegant gypsy" (1977)

Al Di Meola

A bona fide guitar hero, perennial poll-winner and virtuoso of the highest order, Al Di Meola has also been recognized over the past 30 years as a prolific composer and respected artist with over 20 recordings as a leader. His creative output to date is staggering, whether it's with his current World Sinfonia band or past musical endeavors like his electric Tour de Force group with Jan Hammer, Anthony Jackson, Steve Gadd and Mingo Lewis, the internationally acclaimed Trio with fellow guitar superstars John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucia, the Rite of Strings trio with Stanley Clarke and Jean-Luc Ponty or the '70s fusion supergroup Return To Forever with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White. And while his dazzling technique on both acoustic and electric guitars has afforded him regal status among the hordes of fretboard aficionados who regularly flock to his concerts, the depth of Di Meola's writing along with the soulfulness and his inherent lyricism of his guitaristic expression have won him legions of fans worldwide beyond the six-string set.
A pioneer of blending world music and jazz, going back to early Latin-tinged fusion outings like 1976's Land of the Midnight Sun, 1977's Elegant Gypsy and 1978's Casino, the guitar great continues to reflect the rich influence of flamenco, tango, Middle Eastern, Brazilian and African musics on more recent outings like 1998's The Infinite Desire, 2000's The Grand Passion, 2006's Consequence of Chaos and 2008's La Melodia, Live in Milano.
Coming off of 2008's triumphant 25-year reunion tour by Return To Forever, which produced the live two-CD set Returns and the concert DVD Live at Montreux, Di Meola began rehearsing new music with his New World Sinfonia band in preparation for a coast-to-coast tour of the States in the early part of 2009, followed by whirlwind tours of Europe and the Middle East. Di Meola calls his bandmates in the New World Sinfonia --Fausto Beccalossi on accordian, Peo Afonsi on acoustic guitar, Peter Kaszas on percussion, Gumbi Ortiz on percussion, Victor Miranda on bass -- "the best group of musicians so far in my career."
Di Meola's ongoing fascination with complex rhythmic syncopation combined with provocative lyrical melodies and sophisticated harmony has been at the heart of his music throughout a celebrated career that has earned him critical accolades, three gold albums and more than six million in record sales worldwide. He has been particularly enamored over the past 20 years by the tango music of the late Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla, whose compositions he has interpreted over time, beginning with 1990's Di Meola Plays Piazzolla, continuing to 1993's Heart of the Immigrants, 2002's Flesh on Flesh and right up to 2007's Diabolic Inventions and Seduction for Solo Guitar. "Piazzolla had a profound effect on my development as a musician and as a person,” says Al. “We became close friends, often communicating by mail. And during the course of this friendship my admiration and desire to learn more about this great man intensified.”
A native of New Jersey who still resides in the Garden State, Di Meola was born in Jersey City on July 22, 1954. Growing up in Bergenfield with the music of Elvis Presley, The Ventures and The Beatles, he naturally gravitated to guitar as a youngster and by his early teens was already an accomplished player. Attaining such impressive skills at such a young age didn't come easy for Al but rather was the result of focused dedication and intensive periods of woodshedding between his junior and senior years in high school. “I used to practice the guitar eight to ten hours a day,” he told Down Beat. “And I was trying to find myself, or find the kind of music that suited where I was going with the guitar.”
His earliest role models in jazz included guitarists Tal Farlow and Kenny Burrell. But when he discovered Larry Coryell, whom Al would later dub “The Godfather of Fusion,” he was taken with the guitarist's unprecedented blending of jazz, blues and rock into one seamless vocabulary on the instrument. “I used to ride the bus from New Jersey to see him at little clubs in Greenwich Village,” he recalls. “Wherever he was playing, I'd be there.”
In 1971, he enrolled at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and by the second semester there began playing in a fusion quartet led by keyboardist Barry Miles. A gig tape of that band was later passed on to Chick Corea by a friend of Al's and in the early part of 1974 the 19-year-old guitarist was tapped to join the fusion superband as a replacement for guitarist Bill Connors. “I was just sitting around my apartment in Boston on a Friday afternoon when Chick called and asked me to come to a rehearsal in New York,” he recalls. “I couldn't believe it. But in 10 minutes I packed some clothes in a bag, got a ride to New York and never saw that apartment in Boston again.”
Following a weekend of rehearsals with Chick, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White, Di Meola made his RTF debut at Carnegie Hall, offically launching his career into the stratosphere. "Playing with Chick in Return To Forever was the first significant step in my development as a player,” says Al. “Chick is another major influence in my life. He has always been a wonderful supporter, major musical inspiration and a friend.” After three landmark recordings with Return To Forever -- 1974's Where Have I Known You Before, 1975's Grammy Award winning No Mystery and 1976's Romantic Warrior -- the group disbanded and Al subsequently started up his career as a solo artist. His 1976 debut as a leader, Land of the Midnight Sun, was a blazing showcase of his signature chops and Latin-tinged compositions that featured a stellar cast including drummers Steve Gadd and Lenny White, bassist Anthony Jackson and Jaco Pastorius, keyboardists Jan Hammer, Barry Miles and Chick Corea and percussionist Mingo Lewis. Over the course of six more albums with Columbia Records -- Elegant Gypsy, Casino, Splendido Hotel, Electric Rendezvous, Tour De Force and Scenario -- Al established himself as an influential force in contemporary music.
1980 marked the triumph of the acoustic guitar Trio with Paco De Lucia and John McLaughlin. Their debut recording on Columbia Records, Friday Night in San Francisco, became a landmark recording that surpassed the two million mark in sales. The three virtuosos toured together from 1980 through 1983, releasing the studio album Passion, Grace & Fire in 1982. In 1995, they reunited for a third recording, Guitar Trio, follow by another triumphant world tour. In early 1996, Di Meola formed a new trio with the violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and RTF bandmate Stanley Clarke called The Rite of Strings. He subsequently recorded with the likes of opera superstar Luciano Pavarotti, pop stars Paul Simon and Dave Matthews, classical guitarist Manuel Barrueco and Japanese jazz pianist Yutaka Kobayashi. Over the course of his career, Di Meola has also worked and recorded with Phil Collins, Carlos Santana, Steve Winwood, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Herbie Hancock, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Milton Naciemento, Egberto Gismonti, Stevie Wonder, Les Paul, Jimmy Page, Steve Vai, Frank Zappa and many more.
But for now Al's main focus remains his New World Sinfonia. “I'm just totally involved with the new group,” he says. “Everybody's happy and totally into the music. The RTF reunion tour was fun and it was great for the fans, but it was more of a nostalgic thing. I'm more interested now in moving forward with the New World Sinfonia, which has really developed into something beautiful. For me, it's the most rewarding thing I've done in a long, long time, all the way around. You don't have the overbearing volume with this band. Instead you have a rich harmonic kind of music with lots of improvisation, you have a music that is emotional, which really reaches far beyond the almost head-banging male crowd that electric fusion attracts.”
The prolific Di Meola plans to document his latest batch of new compositions with both live and studio recordings in the coming year with the New World Sinfonia. “What I'm doing now is just completely satisfying, like a phenomenal meal and a great glass of vintage wine. The fusion thing is kind of a blast from the past and is kind of assaulting on the ears. And there's a cool aspect to that, but it's not where I'm going musically as a composer.”
Meanwhile, Di Meola may be expanding his world music vocabulary even further after touring Morocco with his New World Sinfonia. “We'll be there a whole week and that will afford me the chance to jam with some of the local musicians there. I'm wide open to that kind of collaboration now. I've done some jamming back in New York at a world music club in the East Village called Drom. I have a very successful jam there with a Turkish clarinet virtuoso named Husnu Senlendiric. I find that I have a real affinity for the music of the Middle East. So we'll see how it goes in Morocco. Maybe there's something that can come out of this.”
Clearly, there are many chapters yet to come in the story of Al Di Meola. But so far, in his 35 years as a professional musician, he's already established a rich legacy that has secured a place for him in the Gallery of Guitar Greats. Stay tuned.

Source: Al Di Meola.com.

Aka Moon "Invisible sun" (2000)

Aka Moon

The unique place Aka Moon occupies in todays music scène is down to the fact that they, independent of any particular trends, combine art with inspired musical craftsmanship. This allows the musical personalities of saxophonist and composer Fabrizio Cassol, electric bassist Michel Hatzigeorgiou and drummer Stéphane Galland to explore all kinds of musical traditions and merge them into their own musical universe.

Since their first encounter with the Aka Pygmées in 1992, Aka Moon’s focus has shifted towards various different African, Indian, Maghrebian, Cuban, Arab, Afro-Amercican and European traditions. Aka Moon juggles with polyrhythms and polyphonies like mad DJ’s. They slide from one phrase into another, opening up new harmonic and rhythmic paths. As a trio or in larger formations they cross over in a kaleidoscopic and elusive way creating a whirlwind of unclassifiable, transcending and cosmic music. Aka Moon’s virtuoso way to approach musical styles have inspired great choreographers who have invited Aka Moon to create and perfom their music within their productions.

The journeys of Aka Moon have been registered in more than 15 CD’s and therefore these mark always a touchstone in their musical evolution.
Aka Moon - as a trio or in other constellations - has played all over the world in over then 30 different countries an at festivals as North Sea Jazz, Montréal Jazz festival, Vancouver Jazz festival, New York Jazz festival, Jazz Middelheim, Gaume Jazz, Moers Jazz, Jazz à la Vilette, Dublin Jazz, London Jazz, Cluzone Jazz, Porto Jazz, Dimajazz, Carthage Jazz, etc.

They have worked together with the most virtuoso musicians, groups and other artists of this era all over the world amongst who: Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman, Doudou N'diaye Rose, Marc Ducret, Benoit Delbecq, David Gilmore, Joe Lovano, Robin Eubanks, Magic Malik, Philippe Catherine, Mark Turner, David Linx, Fabian Fiorini, Toots Thielemans, Baba Sissoko...

Source: Aka Moon.com.

Biréli Lagrène "Foreign affairs" (1988)

Billy Cobham, Colin Towns & HR-Big Band "Meeting of the spirits - a celebration of the Mahavishnu Orchestra" (2006)

Billy Cobham's Glass Menagerie "Stratus" (1981)

Billboard top contemporary jazz rock, various artists (1999)