Earthworks II / Bruford-Borstlap
Garland’s energy and enormously creative output prove an excellent tonic, and the band sails around Germany before succumbing to the inevitable Japanese jet-lag.
“Footloose and Fancy Free” is released, alongside the companion DVD “Footloose in NYC ”, recorded the previous year at the Bottom Line.
The band visits the east coast and the mid-west of the US, and there is an unexpectedly high profile date with Stewart Copeland in the UK in the summer. But the eye is now on a South American tour that is finally, after several miscarriages and some 400 emails, shaping up for September. Aquiles Sojo turns out to be exactly the right man to take the band to the right gigs in four countries in 5 days, and Bruford is thrilled that the flawless preparations produce a tour that he has been waiting for for most of his professional career. Nevertheless, the time taken to arrange this trip has been phenomenal, and it is perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime event.
In November, Bill begins a new, and hopefully logistically simpler, partnership with Dutch pianist Michiel Borstlap at the Nijmegen Jazz Festival.