Fifty years ago in 1969, Bill Bruford became the founding drummer of the prog-rock band YES and the world has never stopped thanking him for it since. Hard to believe Bill left YES in 1972 to join King Crimson and Alan White has remained the YES timekeeper ever since. Following his short but influential tenure as a key early member of YES, Bill constantly sought to exert his unparalleled influence in the music world. Clearly the jazz influence in YES was thanks to him and following the heady early 1970s period, Bill went on to make his mark as a solo artist, later founding his acclaimed jazz band Bill Bruford’s Earthworks back in 1986. The Earthworks band had a long and winding career, complete with a string of acclaimed studio albums and live concert recordings, with the band ending around 2006. Long story short, spotlighting the band’s 20+ year history, in 2019 Bill’s recording company, Summerfold released a 20 CD / 4 DVD box set called Earthworks Complete. Bruford and jazz music fans looking for a more concise collection from Bill’s box set should check out Heavenly Bodies – An Expanded Collection. The expanded version of a single CD Earthworks collection from 2000, this 2019 version of Heavenly Bodies includes 23 tracks spanning 2+ hours of  top-notch modern instrumental jazz on two CDs, that owes more to acoustic jazz legends like John Coltrane, Max Roach and Art Blakey as well as Dave Brubeck than it does to either YES or King Crimson. No Les Paul's or Mellotrons here! In his informative 2019 liner notes, Bill sheds light on why he left the rock world to go back into the free-thinking world of improvisational acoustic jazz that Earthworks excelled in. A number of musicians back up Bill throughout the Heavenly Bodies collection. Featuring the early Earthworks era with Bill and band in the studio, co-produced by Dave Stewart and David Torn, (they don't perform on the album though) through till later period studio work spanning several live Earthworks concert recordings from the early 2000’s, the recorded sound is always crystal clear and well-produced. Many musicians participated in the two main Earthworks band lineups and they’re all noted in the detailed CD booklet. Packed with detailed information and excellent CD booklet art, Heavenly Bodies is a great way to sample and hold the highlights of Bill Bruford’s Earthworks.