The Pete Roth Trio feat. Bill Bruford

The Lantern Theatre, Sheffield
Thursday, 3rd April, 2025

Before I get too far into this review I want to address the obvious point that many of you will see as being the most important. This is a band that happens to feature the drumming legend that is Bill Bruford. Correct, it is that Bill Bruford of Yes, King Crimson, of the Seconds Out Genesis album and so many other projects. But I do not want to make that the primary focus of the review as he might have been the main attraction for the vast majority of the audience but he was just a third of the band and to just talk about him would be grossly unfair to the other two equally gifted musicians. He might have been a part, and a great one at that, but he was not greater than the whole.

Moving on, I am about to use a word that is unpalatable to many people, even a few Prog fans, so please ensure you are sat down and have smelling salts on hand for the next bit: The Pete Roth Trio play Jazz! There I have said it and make no apologies for that. With a combination of their own compositions and their unique interpretations of familiar, and less well known, jazz and musical pieces, they delivered a set that was sublime.

German born Pete Roth played guitar and his style reminded me of the early George Benson albums. A mixture of blues and smooth jazz that took the audience on a musical mystery tour. The original root tunes, of the covers, were often hidden but sneaky snippets were hinted at before the final melody was revealed and people were left feeling that they should have recognised it right from the very start. But do not misread that as some free jazz cacophony akin to Ornette Coleman; a style that would have had casual listeners running to the hills and swearing never to listen to the genre ever again. This was finely crafted music meant to entertain everyone where, thankfully, the journey didn’t divert from the path of tunefulness. For example their version of the Largo from Dvorak’s Symphony Number 9, ‘From the New World’ might not have been recognisable or, for people of a certain age, brought back ancient images of bread averts, but it took the piece in new, and not uncomfortable directions. Then, between many of the pieces, Pete provided humorous links that proved that the myth about Germans lacking a sense of humour was a gross injustice.

There were other covers such as Wayne Shorter’s Fee Fi Fo Fum, Antonio Carlos Jobim’s How Insensitive, Charlie Parker’s Donna Lee and Gershwin’s Summertime but there were many of their own compositions that demonstrated that the talent went beyond their ability to play on a stage. Dancing With Grace was a beautiful example of that.

Along with Pete there was Mike Pratt on bass, another talented performer who definitely knew how to play and, in other times and places, could easily have been a member of Weather Report or be a player in one of Miles Davis’ musical permutations. Thankfully there were no over long, weird and self-indulgent solos, from any of the band, so he was able to demonstrate how good he truly was within the elements of the tunes. No showing off but the talent was obvious and there for everyone to hear.

Last but not least was the aforementioned Bill Bruford. I must admit that I was expecting to see a drum kit that would have taken up most of the stage and would have given him a full workout by just reaching out and hitting each part of the kit but there nothing like that. There were just five drums and a few cymbals, which I couldn’t name each piece but I presume one was called a snare and another was a bass drum. But the small number of components to hit didn’t mean that the quality, skill and enjoyment wasn’t there. Despite looking like an elderly, but pleasant, vicar from an Agatha Christie novel he played with all the energy of a teenager whilst encompassing all the experience of someone who had spent a lifetime on a drum stool.

There were moments when the attention was inescapably drawn to his hypnotic playing as he seemed to make the drums, sing and I was mesmerized by a few of his drumming techniques. All done with a joyous smile that demonstrated that it was all effortless and second nature to him.

The venue was only small but the enjoyment of the crowd was large and enthusiastic, with the standing ovation, and cheers for an encore, genuine. The audience might have been predominantly Prog aficionados but they left as Jazz fans.

[Photos by Darren Walker]

SETLIST
Full Circle
Trio of Five
How Insensitive
Fee Fi Fo Fum
Largo from Dvorak’s Symphony Number 9 (From the New world)
Billie’s Bounce
~ Interval
Summertime
Donna Lee
Dancing With Grace
Looking Forward to Looking Back
If Summer Had its Ghosts
Mr P.C.
Encore
Conversations

MUSICIANS
Pete Roth – Guitar
Mike Pratt – Bass
Bill Bruford – Drums

LINKS
Pete Roth Trio – Website | Facebook | Instagram