''Gradually Going Tornado'' is the third solo album by drummer

Bill Bruford William Scott Bruford (born 17 May 1949) is an English former drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording ...

and the second and final album by his group Bruford. It was co-produced by Bruford and

Ron Malo Ronald Clements Malo (August 29, 1935 in Illinois – August 15, 1992 in Burbank, California) was an American engineer for Chicago's Chess Studios from 1959 until 1970. He was the engineer for the first sessions the Rolling Stones did in the US, i ...

, the latter known from his work with

Weather Report Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian virtuoso keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer and vocali ...

. The music on the album leans closer to progressive rock than the jazz fusion oriented sound of the band’s previous albums. More of Bruford's lyrics are featured as well, for the first time sung by bassist

Jeff Berlin Jeffrey Arthur Berlin (born January 17, 1953) is an American jazz fusion bassist. He first came to prominence in the 1970s as a member of the band Bruford led by drummer Bill Bruford. Musical career Berlin was born on January 17, 1953, in Queen ...

. "Land's End" incorporates music keyboardist Dave Stewart has previously composed for the

National Health National Health were an English progressive rock band associated with the Canterbury scene. Founded in 1975, the band featured members of keyboardist Dave Stewart's band Hatfield and the North and Alan Gowen's band Gilgamesh, including guita ...

album ''

Of Queues and Cures ''Of Queues and Cures'' (also identified as ''Of Queues & Cures'') is the second album recorded by the progressive rock and jazz fusion group National Health, one of the last representatives of the artistically prolific Canterbury scene. Recept ...

'' (1978). Guitarist

Allan Holdsworth Allan Holdsworth (6 August 1946 – 15 April 2017) was a British jazz fusion and progressive rock guitarist and composer. Holdsworth was known for his esoteric and idiosyncratic usage of advanced music theory concepts, especially with respe ...

does not appear, and he recommended John Clark as his replacement in the band after he had given Clark several guitar lessons. Clark was listed on the album sleeve as "the unknown John Clark" as part of a running joke related to his relative obscurity in comparison to his predecessor. The title of the album was taken from the British-based Romanian artist

Paul Neagu Paul Neagu (1938-2004) was a Romanian artist living in England who worked in diverse media such as drawing, sculpture, performance art and watercolor. He died on 16 June 2004 in London. His influences included Cubism, Marcel Duchamp, Constantin ...

who did a performance under the name "Gradually Going Tornado" in London in 1974. Neagu created the album's cover art.

Reception

In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Lee Bloom wrote: "This is intelligent fusion -- intricately crafted, high energy, and technically impressive... ''Gradually Going Tornado'', if not Bruford's most successful effort, is certainly among the finest music produced in the progressive rock/fusion genre." The authors of ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...

'' called the music "strongly melodic, freewheeling and built round Bruford's ringing percussion." John Kelman of ''

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

'' commented: "''The Bruford Tapes'' demonstrated a more raucous energy than Bruford's first two releases, but the follow-up studio album, ''Gradually Going Tornado'', proved that the group was capable of generating the same kind of power in the studio."

Track listing

# "Age of Information" (Bruford, Stewart) – 4:41 # "Gothic 17" (Bruford, Stewart) – 5:07 # "Joe Frazier" (Berlin) – 4:41 # "Q.E.D." (Bruford, Stewart) – 7:46 # "The Sliding Floor" (Berlin, Bruford, Stewart) – 4:58 # "Palewell Park" (Bruford) – 3:57 # "Plans for J.D." (Bruford) – 3:50 # "Land's End" (Stewart) – 10:20 2005 bonus cut
9. "5G" ive(Berlin, Bruford, Stewart) – 7:21

Personnel

* Dave Stewart – keyboards, synthesizers * John Clark – electric guitar *

– bass guitar, lead vocals *

– drums, piano (“Palewell Park”) Guests: *

Georgie Born Georgina Emma Mary Born, is a British Academia, academic, Anthropology, anthropologist, Musicology, musicologist and musician. As a musician she is known as Georgie Born and for her work in Henry Cow and with Lindsay Cooper. Background Born ...

– cello (“Gothic 17”) * Amanda Parsons,

Barbara Gaskin Barbara Gaskin (born 5 June 1950) is a British singer formerly associated with the UK Canterbury scene. Gaskin was lead vocalist in British folk-prog band Spirogyra (1969–1974). From 1973 to 1976, she sang backing vocals with Dave Stewart' ...

– backing vocals (“Land’s End”) Technical: *

– co-producer, engineer * Pete Buhlman – engineer, tape operator * Martin Moss – engineer, second engineer *

– art direction, design

Charts

Album -

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

(United States)

References

{{Authority control Bill Bruford albums 1980 albums Polydor Records albums