Drummer Bill Bruford, best known for his work with Yes and King Crimson, has shared a list of the ten albums he considers life-changing, revealing a musical taste far more rooted in jazz than his progressive rock reputation might suggest. Published on his own website in 2025, the list underscores that his influences extend well beyond the prog-rock world he helped define, drawing instead on jazz, classical and avant-garde sources that shaped both his playing style and career choices.

The list is led by the 1962 compilation Riverside Giants of Jazz, which Bruford described as his "first mass introduction to recorded jazz" and the record that pushed him towards learning drums. Other selections include Miles Davis's Bitches Brew, works by Dave Brubeck, Graham Bond and Ray Charles, and Joshua Redman's 1996 album Freedom in the Groove, while King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King is the sole prog entry, which he credited with making him want to join the band. Notably, no Yes album features on the list.