Gradually Going Tornado
Gradually Going Tornado is the third solo album by drummer Bill Bruford and the second and final album by his group Bruford. It was co-produced by Bruford and Ron Malo, the latter known from his work with Weather Report. 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. "Land's End" incorporates music keyboardist Dave Stewart has previously composed for the National Health album Of Queues and Cures (1978). Guitarist Allan Holdsworth 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.
| Gradually Going Tornado | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 1980 | |||
| Recorded | October & November 1979 | |||
| Studio | Surrey Sound Studios, Surrey, England | |||
| Genre | Jazz fusion,[1] progressive rock[1] | |||
| Length | 46:02 | |||
| Label | Polydor Records | |||
| Producer | Bill Bruford Ron Malo | |||
| Bruford chronology | ||||
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The title of the album was taken from the British-based Romanian artist Paul Neagu who did a performance under the name "Gradually Going Tornado" in London in 1974. Neagu created the album's cover art.
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [1] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz | [2] |
In a review for AllMusic, 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."[1]
The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings called the music "strongly melodic, freewheeling and built round Bruford's ringing percussion."[2]
John Kelman of All About Jazz 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."[3]
Progrography's Dave Connolly remarked: "Bruford's contributions are primarily those of a composer, architecting rhythmically complex arrangements for the rest of the band to play while he assumes the role of musical straight man on the drums.... Bruford no longer feels derivative of other artists. Here, he's borrowing from himself... and the result casts his other musical contributions into a better light."[4]
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" [live] (Berlin, Bruford, Stewart) – 7:21
Personnel
- Dave Stewart – keyboards, synthesizers
- John Clark – electric guitar
- Jeff Berlin – bass guitar, lead vocals
- Bill Bruford – drums, piano (“Palewell Park”)
Guests:
- Georgie Born – cello (“Gothic 17”)
- Amanda Parsons, Barbara Gaskin – backing vocals (“Land’s End”)
Technical:
- Ron Malo – co-producer, engineer
- Pete Buhlman – engineer, tape operator
- Martin Moss – engineer, second engineer
- Paul Neagu – art direction, design
References
- Bloom, Lee. "Bill Bruford: Gradually Going Tornado". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
- Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2006). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. Penguin Books. p. 185.
- Kelman, John (14 October 2005). "Bill Bruford: The Bruford Tapes & Gradually Going Tornado". All About Jazz. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
- Connolly, Dave (1 October 2003). "Bruford: Gradually Going Tornado (1980)". Progrography. Retrieved 28 September 2022.