Jack Bruce

John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish musician. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and bassist of rock band Cream. After the group disbanded in 1968, he pursued a solo career and also played with several bands.

In the early 1960s, Bruce joined the Graham Bond Organisation (GBO), where he met future Cream bandmate Ginger Baker. After leaving the band, he briefly joined John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, where he met Eric Clapton. In 1966, after a short time with Manfred Mann, Bruce formed Cream with lead guitarist Clapton and drummer Baker. Bruce co-wrote many of their songs (including "Sunshine of Your Love", "White Room" and "I Feel Free") with poet/lyricist Pete Brown.

After the group disbanded in the late 1960s, Bruce began recording solo albums. He put together a band of his own to perform material live and formed the blues rock band West, Bruce and Laing in 1972, with ex-Mountain guitarist Leslie West and drummer Corky Laing. Bruce's solo career spanned several decades. From the 1970s to the 1990s, he played with several bands as a touring member. He reunited with Cream in 2005 for concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Bruce is considered one of the most important and influential bassists of all time. Rolling Stone magazine readers ranked him number eight on their list of "10 Greatest Bassists of All Time". He was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, and was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006, both as a member of Cream.

Life and career 1943–1962: Early life Bruce was born on 14 May 1943 in Bishopbriggs, Lanarkshire, Scotland, to Betty (née Asher) and Charlie Bruce, musical parents who moved frequently, resulting in the young Bruce attending 14 different schools, ending up at Bellahouston Academy. He began playing jazz bass in his teens and won a scholarship to study cello and musical composition at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama while playing in Jim McHarg's Scotsville Jazzband to support himself.

1962–1966: Early career Jack Bruce's school disapproved of the fact that he played in jazz combos, so he was forced to leave the school. He subsequently toured Italy, playing double bass with the Murray Campbell Big Band.

In 1962, Bruce became a member of the London-based band Blues Incorporated, led by Alexis Korner, in which he played the upright bass. The band also included organist Graham Bond, saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith and drummer Ginger Baker. In 1963 the group dissolved. Bruce would go on to form the Graham Bond Quartet with Bond, Baker and guitarist John McLaughlin.

After leaving, Bruce recorded a solo single, "I'm Gettin Tired", for Polydor Records.

While with Manfred Mann, Bruce again collaborated with Clapton as a member of Powerhouse, which also featured Spencer Davis Group members Steve Winwood credited as "Steve Anglo", on vocals and Pete York on drums (Apparently, Ginger Baker was originally to have played the session), Ben Palmer on piano, and Manfred Mann vocalist Paul Jones on harmonica. Three tracks were featured on the Elektra sampler album What's Shakin'. Two of the songs, "Crossroads" and "Steppin' Out", became staples in the live set of his next band, Cream.

1966–1968: Cream

In July 1966, Bruce, Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker founded the power trio Cream, which gained international recognition playing blues-rock and jazz-inflected rock music. Bruce either penned or co-penned the majority of the band's tunes and sang most of the lead vocals, with Clapton backing him up and eventually assuming some leads himself. Bruce co-wrote most of Cream's single releases with lyricist Pete Brown, including the hits "Sunshine of Your Love", "White Room" and "I Feel Free". Cream broke up in 1968.

1970s: Post-Cream Collaborative efforts with musicians, in many genres – hard rock, jazz, blues, R&B, fusion, avant-garde, world music, third stream classical – continued as a theme of Bruce's career. Alongside these he produced a long line of highly regarded solo albums. In contrast to his collaborative works, the solo albums usually maintain a common theme: melodic songs with a complex musical structure, songs with lyrics frequently penned by Pete Brown and a core band of world-class musicians. This structure was loosened on his live solo albums and DVDs, where extended improvisations similar to those employed by Cream in live performance were sometimes still used.

In August 1968, before Cream officially disbanded, Bruce recorded a semi-acoustic free jazz album with John McLaughlin, Dick Heckstall-Smith and Jon Hiseman.

The band's breakup was announced shortly before Live 'n' Kickins release in early 1974, and Bruce released his fourth solo album Out of the Storm later that year. Also in 1974 he featured on the title track of Frank Zappa's album Apostrophe ('), recorded in November 1972. Bruce was credited with bass and co-authorship on the improvised track. When asked about Zappa in a 1992 interview, Bruce tried to change the subject and jokingly insisted that he had played only cello parts. Outtakes from the session were released on the archival release The Crux Of The Biscuit in 2016. In 1973 Bruce recorded bass guitar for Lou Reed's Berlin album, playing on all but two tracks.

A 1975 tour was lined up to support the Out of the Storm album with a band featuring former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor and jazz keyboard player Carla Bley, with whom he had collaborated in 1971 on Escalator over the Hill. The tour was belatedly documented on Live at Manchester Free Trade Hall '75 (2003), but it ended with Taylor's departure, and sessions for a studio album were abandoned. During the next year, Bruce only resurfaced to play on Charlie Mariano's Helen 12 Trees album.

In 1976, Bruce formed a new band (The Jack Bruce Band) with drummer Simon Phillips and keyboardist Tony Hymas. The group recorded an album, called How's Tricks. A world tour followed, but the album was a commercial failure. They also recorded a "live in the studio" album called Blues & Boogie Explosion for the German audiophile record label Jeton.

1980s By 1979, Bruce's drug habit had reached such a level that he had lost most of his money. Bruce contributed as a session musician to recordings by Cozy Powell, Gary Moore, and Jon Anderson to raise money. By 1980 his career was back on track with his new band, Jack Bruce & Friends, consisting of drummer Billy Cobham, guitarist Clem Clempson and keyboardist/guitarist David Sancious. After releasing the album I've Always Wanted to Do This at the end of 1980, they undertook a long tour to support the record, but it was not a commercial success and they disbanded. That year he also collaborated on the Soft Machine album Land of Cockayne (released in 1981).

In 1981, Bruce collaborated with guitarist Robin Trower and released two power trio albums, B.L.T. and Truce, the first of which was a minor hit in the US.

On April 25, 1991, Bruce performed with Uli Jon Roth, Simon Phillips, Randy Hansen, John Wetton, Zeno Roth, and others at E-Werk in Cologne, Germany. This performance featured a tribute to Jimi Hendrix, and a concert video of 22 tracks was released on Laserdisc in 1994 as "The Spirit of Jimi Hendrix Live in Concert" in Japan.

In 1993, a solo album, Somethin Els, reunited him with Eric Clapton and brought belated but widespread critical acclaim.

Later that year, Ginger Baker and a host of former Bruce band colleagues joined him for two special 50th birthdays concerts in Cologne, Germany, hosted by the TV show Rockpalast. Selections from these were released as the live double CD Cities of the Heart, and much later as the DVD set Rockpalast: The 50th Birthdays Concerts. One special guest was the Irish blues-rock guitarist Gary Moore, who joined Bruce and Baker for a set of Cream classics. Inspired by this performance, the three formed the power trio BBM, and their subsequent (and only) album, Around the Next Dream, was a top ten hit in the UK. In September 2003, he underwent a liver transplant, which was almost fatal, as his body initially rejected the new organ. He recovered, and in 2004 re-appeared to perform "Sunshine of Your Love" at a Rock Legends concert in Germany organised by Leslie Mandoki.

In May 2005, he reunited with former Cream bandmates Clapton and Baker for a series of well-received concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall, released as the album Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005, and New York's Madison Square Garden.

In between the UK and U.S. Cream dates, he also played live with Gary Moore and drummer Gary Husband at the Dick Heckstall-Smith tribute concert in London.

Subsequent concert appearances by Bruce were sparse because of recovery after the transplant, but in 2006 he returned to the live arena with a show of Cream and solo classics performed with the German HR (Hessischer Rundfunk) Big Band. This was released on CD in Germany in 2007. In 2007, he made a brief concert appearance to open a new rehearsal hall named in his honour at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow with Clem Clempson, keyboard player Ronnie Leahy, and Husband.

In 2008, Bruce collaborated again with guitarist Robin Trower on the album Seven Moons. It also featured Husband.

In May 2008, Bruce turned 65 years old; to commemorate this milestone two box sets of recordings were released. Spirit is a three-CD collection of Bruce's BBC recordings from the 1970s. Can You Follow? is a six-CD retrospective anthology released by the Esoteric label in the UK. This anthology is a wide-ranging collection covering his music from 1963 to 2003 and, aside from his work with Kip Hanrahan, is a comprehensive overview of his career.

Improved health led to Bruce playing a series of live outdoor concerts across the US starting in July 2008 as part of the Hippiefest Tour. He was supported by members of the late Who bassist John Entwistle's the John Entwistle Band, and headlined at a tribute concert to the bassist.

In November 2008, Bruce recorded a concert in Birmingham, England, for Radio Broadcast with the BBC Big Band, where he again played the Big Band arrangements of his classic songs. In December, he was reunited with Ginger Baker at the drummer's Lifetime Achievement Award concert in London. They played jazz classics with saxophonist Courtney Pine and for the first time in 40 years played the Graham Bond–Cream classic "Traintime".

The same month, Bruce, with guitarist Vernon Reid, drummer Cindy Blackman, and organist John Medeski played a series of Blue Note Club tribute concerts to the Tony Williams Lifetime in Japan. These shows were broadcast in high definition on television in Japan.

In 2009, Bruce performed in a series of concerts with Trower and Husband in Europe. Proposed dates in the U.S. in April were cancelled because of a further bout of ill health. Bruce recovered, and the band played summer concerts in Italy, Norway, and the UK during 2009. This promoted the release of the Seven Moons live CD and DVD, recorded in February during the European leg of the tour in Nijmegen, Netherlands.

During the Scottish dates of the 2009 tour, Bruce was presented with an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Glasgow Caledonian University for services to the culture of Glasgow and music in general.

In August 2009, the 1983 Bruce solo album Automatic was re-released, making his entire solo catalogue available on CD. In addition, all of the discs up to and including How's Tricks contain previously unreleased material.

In October 2009, Bruce performed at the 50th anniversary of Ronnie Scott's Club with the Ronnie Scott's Blues Band.

2010s Jack Bruce – Composing Himself: The Authorized Biography by Harry Shapiro was released by Jawbone Press in February 2010. Shapiro had previously written biographies of Bruce collaborators Alexis Korner, Graham Bond and Eric Clapton. The book followed memoirs from his Cream bandmates Clapton (Clapton, 2007) and Baker (Hellraiser, 2009). His songwriting partner, Pete Brown's, biography White Rooms & Imaginary Westerns was published in September 2010. They each have differing recollections of forming Cream, playing, and writing together.

On 14 January, at the 2011 North American Music Merchants Show, Bruce became only the third recipient of the International Bassist Award, a lifetime achievement award for bassists, after Jaco Pastorius and Nathan Watts.

His first independent CD release, Live at the Milky Way, Amsterdam 2001, featuring The Cuicoland Express, his Latin-based band of the time, was issued in October 2010. The double album received an official worldwide release, distributed by EMI in February 2011. To support this release Bruce again played four dates in London at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club with the Ronnie Scott's Blues Experience, followed by a further ten dates across the UK with the band. On 4 June 2011, Bruce played a special concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London, which was celebrating its 60th anniversary. The evening celebrated the 50th anniversary of the blues in Great Britain, and Bruce played with his Big Blues Band and special guest Joe Bonamassa.

In 2012, Bruce started playing the Gerry Rafferty tribute concert in Glasgow, followed by a date with the traditional Celtic band Lau. BBC Scotland recorded a one-hour special on Bruce, which also included a performance with Lau. The completed documentary Jack Bruce – The Man Behind the Bass was transmitted in February 2012 by BBC Scotland. It featured new interviews with Bruce, Clapton, Baker, and Brown. It was transmitted again on 9 November 2014 on BBC2 Scotland and on 17 November 2014 on BBC4 in the UK.

February 2012 saw Bruce playing in Havana, Cuba, along with guitarist Phil Manzanera, supporting the mambo band of Augusto Enriquez. March saw another residency at Ronnie Scott's in London, supported by his Big Blues Band and followed by a UK tour. The concert at the Stables, Milton Keynes on 18 March was planned to be recorded as an Instant Live CD release, but technical issues prevented this. The following evenings' performance at the same location was recorded, and a 2-CD version was issued by Instant Live.

Spectrum Road, a collaboration with Vernon Reid, Cindy Blackman, and John Medeski in tribute to The Tony Williams Lifetime, was released in June 2012 by the US jazz record label Palmetto Records and was accompanied by a series of dates at large jazz festivals in North America and Europe throughout June and July.

In March 2014, Bruce released Silver Rails on the Esoteric Antenna label, his first solo studio album in more than a decade. Silver Rails was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, produced and mixed by Rob Cass and features contributions from Cream lyricist, Pete Brown, Kip Hanrahan, and wife Margrit Seyffer as well as musicians Robin Trower, Cindy Blackman, Phil Manzanera, Uli Jon Roth, John Medeski and Bernie Marsden. The deluxe version of the album featured a behind the scenes documentary "The Making of Silver Rails" which was filmed on location at the studios and directed by Bruce's daughter Kyla Simone Bruce. Bruce's son Malcolm Bruce pre-produced the album and played guitar on several tracks, while Bruce's daughter Aruba Red was featured on "Hidden Cities" singing backing vocals.

Secondary instruments

In addition to his primary instruments, Bruce is known to have played the following instruments during his career: Cello – Rope Ladder to the Moon (documentary) Guitar Harmonica – "Traintime" Mellotron – "Silver Rails" Piano – "Theme for an Imaginary Western"

Style and influences

Bruce's complex, jazz-influenced playing established him as one of the foremost bassists in rock music. During his time with Cream, he developed his signature style and began to make use of string bending and bass distortion to stand out in the band, becoming prominently associated with the Gibson EB-3 and Marshall amplification. Later, he switched to fretless Warwick basses and developed a cleaner sound utilizing Hartke amplifiers. Uniquely among his contemporaries, Bruce was primarily a fingerstyle player, in contrast to other bassists like Paul McCartney or Noel Redding who mainly relied on using a pick.

Chief among his influences, he has named J.S. Bach, Ray Brown, Charles Mingus, Scott LaFaro, Charlie Haden, Roy Babbington, and James Jamerson.

Personal life In 1964, Bruce married Janet Godfrey, who had been the secretary of the Graham Bond Organisation fan club and had collaborated with Bruce on two songs written for the band. with whom he had two daughters, Natascha, known professionally as Aruba Red, and Kyla, and a son, Corin.

Death

Bruce died of liver disease on 25 October 2014, in Sudbury, Suffolk, England, aged 71. He was survived by his wife Margrit and four children.

His funeral was held in London on 5 November 2014 and was attended by Clapton, Baker, and noted musicians Phil Manzanera, Gary Brooker, Vernon Reid, and Nitin Sawhney among others. Dozens assembled at the Golders Green Crematorium paying a last tribute singing "Morning Has Broken", "Strawberry Fields Forever", and "Theme for an Imaginary Western". Bruce's remains were later cremated and then interred at a private family ceremony on 31 December 2014 at the crematorium. Despite their well documented volatile relationship, Ginger Baker attended Bruce’s funeral, having always respected his talent and musicianship.

Influence Steve Anderson, writing in The Independent said: "He became one of the most famous and influential bass players in rock." Eric Clapton posted on Facebook about Bruce: "He was a great musician and composer, and a tremendous inspiration to me" and composed an acoustic song in his honour.

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi said on Twitter that Bruce had been his favourite bass player, saying: "He was a hero to so many". Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler regarded Bruce as his "biggest influence and favourite bass player". Rush bassist and singer Geddy Lee wrote: "One of the greatest rock bassists to ever live and a true and profound inspiration to countless musicians. He was one of my first bass heroes and was a major influence on my playing and my music."

Writing in The Sunday Times in 2008, Dan Cairns had suggested: "Many consider him to be one of the greatest bass players of all time." Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Neil McCormick said: "There was a time when Jack Bruce was synonymous with the bass guitar in rock history, when he was widely revered as the best there was on four strings." Roger Waters of Pink Floyd described Bruce as "probably the most musically gifted bass player who's ever been." John Wetton, Peter Cetera, Jeff Berlin, John Paul Jones, Phil Lesh, John Entwistle, Stanley Clarke, Neil Murray, Roger Glover, Billy Sheehan, and Sting.

Discography Singles 1965, "I'm Gettin' Tired (Of Drinkin' and Gamblin')", Polydor: BM 56036 1971, "The Consul at Sunset" / "A Letter of Thanks", Polydor: 2058 153 1974, "Keep It Down", RSO: 2090 141 1986, "Feel Free", Virgin: VS 875 1995, "Monkjack", CMP Records: CMP CD 1010P 1997, "On and On" (Man Doki with Ian Anderson, Nik Kershaw, Jack Bruce, Bobby Kimball, Chaka Khan, Guru and David Clayton-Thomas), Brunswick News: 573 469-2 2014, "Fields of Forever", Esoteric / Cherry Red: EANTS 1002

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations

DVDs

Collaborations with Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated 1964 – Alexis Korner and Friends

with The Graham Bond Organisation 1964 – Live at Klooks Kleek (first released in 1972 as Faces And Places Vol. 4) 1965 – The Sound of '65 1965 – There's A Bond Between Us

with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers 1966 – Looking Back (compilation album released in 1969) 1966 – Primal Solos (live recording first released in 1977)

with Manfred Mann 1966 – "Pretty Flamingo", Machines EP, Instrumental Asylum EP

with Cream 1966 – Fresh Cream 1967 – Disraeli Gears 1968 – Wheels of Fire 1969 – Goodbye 1970 – Live Cream 1972 – Live Cream Volume II 2005 – Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005

with Jimi Hendrix 1968 – Jack Bruce Jam (Unofficial Release)

with Michael Gibbs 1970 – Michael Gibbs

with The Tony Williams Lifetime 1970 – Turn It Over 1971 – Ego

with Carla Bley 1971 – Escalator over the Hill

with West, Bruce and Laing 1972 – Why Dontcha 1973 – Whatever Turns You On 1974 – Live 'n' Kickin'

with Lou Reed 1973 – Berlin

with Frank Zappa 1974 – Apostrophe (')

with Michael Mantler 1974 – No Answer 1987 – Live 1988 – Many Have No Speech 1993 – Folly Seeing All This 1997 – The School of Understanding

with Charlie Mariano 1976 – Helen 12 Trees

with John McLaughlin 1978 – Electric Guitarist

with Cozy Powell 1979 – Over the Top 1981 – Tilt

with Bernie Marsden 1979 – And About Time Too

with Trevor Rabin 1980 – Wolf

with Rocket 88 1981 – Rocket 88

with Soft Machine 1981 – Land of Cockayne

with Robin Trower 1981 – B.L.T. (album) – US#37 1982 – Truce – US#109 CA#39 2008 – Seven Moons 2009 – Seven Moons Live (re-released as Songs From The Road)

with Ellen McIlwaine 1982 – Everybody Needs It

with Mose Allison 1983 – Lessons in Living

with Allan Holdsworth 1983 – Road Games

with Kip Hanrahan 1983 – Desire Develops an Edge 1984 – Vertical's Currency 1986 – A Few Short Notes from the End Run 1993 – Exotica 1995 – All Roads Are Made of the Flesh

with Mark Nauseef 1985 – Wun-Wun 1994 – The Snake Music (with Miroslav Tadić)

with The Golden Palominos 1985 – Visions of Excess 1986 – Blast of Silence (Axed My Baby for a Nickel)

with Anton Fier and Kenji Suzuki 1987 – Inazuma Super Session "Absolute Live!!"

with Leslie West 1988 – Theme

with Bill Ward 1990 – Ward One: Along the Way

with Bruce-Baker-Moore (BBM) 1994 – Around The Next Dream

with Dick Heckstall-Smith and John Stevens 1994 – This That with Gov't Mule

2001 – The Deep End, Volume 1

with Vernon Reid, Cindy Blackman and John Medeski 2012 – Spectrum Road