RIP .. a REAL surprise .. was listening to 'Disraeli Gears' just this morning .. great voice, great innovator .. another 60s/70s legend goes .. very sad
I can't believe this. He was one of my all time heroes. I have seen him many times back to the days of the Graham Bond organisation, through Cream. One of the best rock bassists there has been.
I can't believe this. He was one of my all time heroes. I have seen him many times back to the days of the Graham Bond organisation, through Cream. One of the best rock bassists there has been.
Just found some recent pictures of JB .. he looked/looks REALLY ill, skeletal, very sick .. he's probably been ill with a wasting disease (cancer?) for quite some time
Jack was a true artist on that base, and a very accomplished musician, he simply gave me hundreds of hours of enjoyment with his playing and singing. Saw him live in London, and his musicianship was simply the best. Played with all my heroes, Hendrix,Trower, Zappa, Gallagher, and countless more. RIP Jack,
Deeply sad news. Jack Bruce was - is - a towering musical force. Disraeli Gears in 1968 taught me and a whole generation of kids to become musicians ourselves, and it was much later that I discovered that Jack had played double-bass in Soho jazz clubs before Ginger and Eric were even invented.
Listen also to Jack Bruce's cello on the studio side of Wheels of Fire, and his beautiful voice on Songs for a Tailor: "Going to a wedding... Dressed in black."
Yeah, as well as the Cream stuff (obviously) I've a copy of Things We Like - a very jazzy album -different from what most people remember him for but classy nonetheless. (Probably helped by having John McLaughlin and Dick Heckstall-Smith playing on it!) In the main Jack played the double bass on the album not his usual guitar. RIP.
I can't believe this. He was one of my all time heroes. I have seen him many times back to the days of the Graham Bond organisation, through Cream. One of the best rock bassists there has been.
Just found some recent pictures of JB .. he looked/looks REALLY ill, skeletal, very sick .. he's probably been ill with a wasting disease (cancer?) for quite some time
And the fact that he died "surrounded by his family" indicates that his death was expected, and the illness kept quiet.
Thought he had a liver transplant c 10 years ago? Very sad news - RIP Jack. Saw him live at Celtic Connections in Jan 2013 at a small venue in Glasgow - a fantastic evening. He didn't look particularly well then, but sounded great.
Saw this posted on the web of Jack's appearance at Ronnie Scott's with his band a couple of years ago...... Sadly, I missed the gig as I really enjoyed the man's music, and was too late to get a ticket. The base playing, singing and composing makes him for me one of foremost musician's of the past 50 years or so. Jack had his issues with drink and drugs, and his arguments with Ginger Baker are well known. But in the end his legacy as a legend is surely secured.
Jack Bruce the composer, the singer, the multi-instrumentalist, the Legend. Hailed as one of the most powerful vocalists and greatest bassists of his time, his improvisational skill and utterly unique, free-spirited approach to composition and performance would forever change electric music. His pioneering, full-toned, free-wheeling playing on the electric bass revolutionised the way the instrument is used and influenced the playing of countless bassists to today, including Sting and Jaco Pastorius. His work with bands such as Cream and the Tony Williams Lifetime, as well as his solo material, unlocked the doors to the pent-up energy of a new approach to the art of sound, breaking the barriers of tradition and creating a kind of music that had never been heard.
Jack Bruce, composer, bassist, singer and multi-instrumentalist was born in the industrial, Scottish city of Glasgow to working class parents. His love of music was stimulated by his mother (Scots folk music) and father (jazz). At age sixteen he won a scholarship in cello and composition to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama of which he now holds an Honorary Doctorate of Music. There is also the 'Jack Bruce Zone' at the RSAMD which features a wall sculpture by Hazel Blue depicting his life story.
He left home at seventeen to seek fame and fortune and travelled around Europe playing with many jazz bands before settling in London. There he played with Alexis Korner's Blues Inc., The Graham Bond Organization, John Mayall and Manfred Mann before forming the world's first super group, Cream with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker. He composed most of Cream's hits, including I Feel Free, Sunshine of Your Love, White Room and many others during the band's meteoric career. After the demise of Cream he began his dream of pursuing his personal goal of forging his own musical language and playing with many of the finest musicians in the world in his own bands.
In 1993 Jack was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Cream, and the band had a tremendously successful reunion in 2005. The following year, Jack was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Grammy for his work with Cream.
He continues to be prolific musically and records and plays concerts all over the globe. In 2009 Jack released the 'Seven Moons' CD and live DVD with guitar god, Robin Trower as well as the six CD box set entitled 'Can You Follow?' which traces Jack’s career from the age of nineteen up until (almost) the present day. The tour of Europe and the UK was very successful. He was also awarded the degree Doctor of Letters from Glasgow Caledonian University. 2010 saw the release of Jack’s authorized biography, ‘Composing Himself’ and that year as well as touring, the amazing album ‘Jack Bruce and the Cuicoland Express Live at the Milky Way was released and the long awaited release of the seminal documentary film about Jack by Tony Palmer, ‘Rope Ladder to the Moon was mooted to come out.
Early in 2011, Jack toured in the US with a new band, Spectrum Road. This project has, as well as Jack in its line-up, Vernon Reid, guitar, John Medeski, keyboards and Cindy Blackman-Santana on drums. The music’s starting point is that of Tony Williams Lifetime and a studio album is due to be released in the autumn of 2011. Jack was awarded the Bass Player Lifetime achievement award during his visit to the NAMM show.
In the spring of 2011 Jack formed his tremendously exciting new band, The Big Blues Band and had a sell out tour of the UK. He has been playing major summer festivals all over Europe with his Big Blues Band as well as having been invited to play in Australia and Brazil with them. In September a television special is planned for BBC Scotland/BBC4 featuring many of his compositions performed by various ensembles.
Jack Bruce and the Big Blues Band are booked to tour all over the UK in March 2012 and in the meantime he is planning a new studio album with them as well as some guests.
Remember seeing Jack and Ginger together with Graham Bond at Richmond R&B Festival around 1968. Also saw Slowhand Clapton with the Yardbirds. Their singer Keith Relph was ill (sadly died a year or so later), so for the first time in public, Eric sang, looked a bag of nerves, was rubbish and the band finished their half hour set about 15 minutes early.
http://youtu.be/--qzM3NS-is 
Comments
Real music legend
RIP Jack.
Listen also to Jack Bruce's cello on the studio side of Wheels of Fire, and his beautiful voice on Songs for a Tailor: "Going to a wedding... Dressed in black."
All very sad.
Very sad news - RIP Jack.
Saw him live at Celtic Connections in Jan 2013 at a small venue in Glasgow - a fantastic evening. He didn't look particularly well then, but sounded great.
Jack had his issues with drink and drugs, and his arguments with Ginger Baker are well known. But in the end his legacy as a legend is surely secured.
Jack Bruce the composer, the singer, the multi-instrumentalist, the Legend. Hailed as one of the most powerful vocalists and greatest bassists of his time, his improvisational skill and utterly unique, free-spirited approach to composition and performance would forever change electric music. His pioneering, full-toned, free-wheeling playing on the electric bass revolutionised the way the instrument is used and influenced the playing of countless bassists to today, including Sting and Jaco Pastorius. His work with bands such as Cream and the Tony Williams Lifetime, as well as his solo material, unlocked the doors to the pent-up energy of a new approach to the art of sound, breaking the barriers of tradition and creating a kind of music that had never been heard.
Jack Bruce, composer, bassist, singer and multi-instrumentalist was born in the industrial, Scottish city of Glasgow to working class parents. His love of music was stimulated by his mother (Scots folk music) and father (jazz). At age sixteen he won a scholarship in cello and composition to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama of which he now holds an Honorary Doctorate of Music. There is also the 'Jack Bruce Zone' at the RSAMD which features a wall sculpture by Hazel Blue depicting his life story.
He left home at seventeen to seek fame and fortune and travelled around Europe playing with many jazz bands before settling in London. There he played with Alexis Korner's Blues Inc., The Graham Bond Organization, John Mayall and Manfred Mann before forming the world's first super group, Cream with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker. He composed most of Cream's hits, including I Feel Free, Sunshine of Your Love, White Room and many others during the band's meteoric career. After the demise of Cream he began his
dream of pursuing his personal goal of forging his own musical language and playing with many of the finest musicians in the world in his own bands.
In 1993 Jack was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Cream, and the band had a tremendously successful reunion in 2005. The following year, Jack was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Grammy for his work with Cream.
He continues to be prolific musically and records and plays concerts all over the globe. In 2009 Jack released the 'Seven Moons' CD and live DVD with guitar god, Robin Trower as well as the six CD box set entitled 'Can You Follow?' which
traces Jack’s career from the age of nineteen up until (almost) the present day. The tour of Europe and the UK was very successful. He was also awarded the degree Doctor of Letters from Glasgow Caledonian University. 2010 saw the release of Jack’s authorized biography, ‘Composing Himself’
and that year as well as touring, the amazing album ‘Jack Bruce and the Cuicoland Express Live at the Milky Way was released and the long awaited release of the seminal documentary film about Jack by Tony Palmer, ‘Rope
Ladder to the Moon was mooted to come out.
Early in 2011, Jack toured in the US with a new band, Spectrum Road. This project has, as well as Jack in its line-up, Vernon Reid, guitar, John Medeski, keyboards and Cindy Blackman-Santana on drums. The music’s starting point is that of Tony Williams Lifetime and a studio album is due to be released in the autumn of 2011. Jack was awarded the Bass Player Lifetime achievement award during his visit to the NAMM show.
In the spring of 2011 Jack formed his tremendously exciting new band, The Big Blues Band and had a sell out tour of the UK. He has been playing major summer festivals all over Europe with his Big Blues Band as well as having
been invited to play in Australia and Brazil with them. In September a television special is planned for BBC Scotland/BBC4 featuring many of his compositions performed by various ensembles.
Jack Bruce and the Big Blues Band are booked to tour all over the UK in March 2012 and in the meantime he is planning a new studio album with them as well as some guests.