BRUFORD: FEELS GOOD TO ME

When I heard about Bruford via a few video's on Youtube I was very excited to check out a great Jazz Fusion supergroup with 3 of my favourite stars of Prog and Jazz Rock, Goodsall, Stewart and Bruford.

With the album opener 'Beelzebub' I was immediately hooked. It's energetic Jazz Fusion with fantastic performances on every instrument with a style that very much reminded me of Mahavishnu Orchestra's debut album. John Goodsall's playing maintains the same energy and incredible speed he showed in Brand X and Bill Bruford's drum part is incredible at times showing what a virtuoso he really is in a way that can't be found in Yes or King Crimson.

The second track 'Back To The Beginning' starts off like slower Jazz Rock in the vain of Weather Report. This is also the first track to feature vocals. I have to agree with the consensus here that the vocal doesn't seem to fit the music at all. At least not for the first few minutes where it is mixed far too loud in comparison to the other instruments and becomes distracting. Though this track in it's instrumental sections is very enjoyable with some great layered playing by Dave Stewart and some more great solo playing from John Goodsall. By the end of the track the vocal does seem to have come into it's own and seems less distracting and more fitting to the music.

The next tracks 'Seems Like A Lifetime Ago' Pt.1 and 2 also feature vocals but they are much better performed and mixed this time and fit the tracks throughout. This is also a far better composed track that the previous with an arrangement that moves between several intriguing sections and leads to some fantastic Electric Piano soloing by Dave Stewart in Pt.2 and more unbelievable playing from John Goodsall that builds in a way similar to classic Return To Forever tracks.

The next 4 tracks are instrumentals in a similar vain to Beelzebub featuring more excellent work from Goodsall and Stewart as well as an excellent more prominent Bass part from Jeff Berlin in 'Sample and Hold'. 'Sample And Hold' and 'Feels Good To Me' are both energetic Jazz Fusion instrumentals featuring excellent playing from every musician. 'Either End Of August' is a more mellow instrumental featuring a fantastic mellow drum part and some great piano playing from Dave Stewart built around some great Guitar soloing. 'If You Can't Stand The Heat' is another incredible Jazz Fusion performance with more energetic drumming and Bass playing as well as keyboard and Guitar solo's that show incredible speed and virtuosity, in my opinion this is the finest track on the album and can compete with any recording from the most famous Fusion artists.

The duo of 'Springtime In Siberia' and 'Adios a la Pasada' close the album in a mellow style. 'Springtime in Siberia' is a simple Jazz track with piano and woodwind accompaniment. 'Adios a la Pasada' is the final track to feature a vocal which again doesn't quite seem to fit. Despite the vocal this track features a fantastic Jazz Rock arrangement the instrumental sections gelling fantastically making for some great Fusion moments that close what is one of the finest Fusion albums to come from the British prog scene.

Feels Good To Me is an excellent addition for anyone who enjoys Jazz Fusion and earns 4 Stars from Bill Bruford and is star ensemble.