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"On October 25, 2014, Jack Bruce, best known as one third of Cream died of liver disease aged 71. Bruce played bass, sang and was the principal songwriter in Cream, and his CV reads like a comprehensive guide to the British blues boom, with spells in Alexis Korner’s Blues Inc, the Graham Bond Organisation, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Manfred Mann.". I always thought he had one of the best voices in rock music.
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Jack Bruce - The Man Behind the Bass
Jack Bruce - The Man Behind The Bass Broadcast date - February 13th 2012 Jack Bruce fronted the Sixties supergroup Cream alongside Eric Clapton and Ginger Ba...
Thank you my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware that on October 25, 2014 song writer, singer and bass player John 'Jack' Symon Asher Bruce died of liver disease aged 71.
Jack Bruce - The Man Behind the Bass
Broadcast date - February 13th 2012
Jack Bruce fronted the Sixties supergroup Cream alongside Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker, and has played with everyone from Marvin Gaye to Jimi Hendrix and from Lulu to Lou Reed. ArtWorks Scotland tells the story of his life, from childhood in Scotland to global superstardom, through some of Jack's favourite songs and with contributions from Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Flea of Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Adam Clayton of U2.
The story encompasses some of the biggest riffs and rifts in rock, taking in family tragedy, drugs and near death. A specially chosen set of six songs mark crucial moments in Jack's life, including Cream's Sunshine of Your Love. Jack rerecorded the tracks with some of Scotland's finest musicians including folk trio Lau, percussionist Jim Sutherland, keyboard player Andy May, guitarist Taj Wyzgowski, drummer Chris Peacock, his nephew Nico Bruce on bass and string ensemble Mr McFall's Chamber.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JQrSjJaRpQ
Images:
1. Jack (with his wife, Margrit) accepts Grammy award for Cream
2. 1964 or so Graham Bond Organization Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce, Graham Bond and Dick Hechstall-Smith.
3. Office Cream Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce.
4. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction of Cream 1993 - Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker
Background from {[http://www.jackbruce.com/2008/Jack/Jack.htm]}
Jack (John Symon Asher) Bruce
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 was born to musical parents in the shipbuilding city of Glasgow, Scotland on 14 May 1943. His parents travelled extensively in Canada and the U.S.A. Jack attended 14 different schools, finishing his formal education at Bellahouston Academy and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, to which he won a scholarship for cello and composition. He left the Academy and his homeland at the age of 16, because of poverty and discouraged by his professors' lack of interest in his ideas.
Jack travelled to Italy and then England, playing double-bass in dance bands and jazz groups, and joined his first important band in 1962 in London. This was Alexis Korner's Blues Inc. with whom Charlie Watts, later to join the Rolling Stones, was their drummer. Jack left Alexis in 1963 to form a group with organist Graham Bond, guitarist John McLaughlin and drummer Ginger Baker. This group became the seminal Graham Bond Organisation after John left, and saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith joined. Jack was compelled to leave this band after three years by Ginger Baker, who said his playing was "too busy"!
Jack had to turn down Marvin Gaye's offer to join his U.S.-based band because of his impending first marriage. He then joined John Mayall's Blues Breakers, where he first met Eric Clapton, followed by Manfred Mann in an ill-advised attempt at commercialism. It was Ginger Baker who initially asked Jack to form a trio with Eric Clapton. Eric insisted that Jack would be the singer.
Cream went on to sell 35,000,000 albums in just over two years and was awarded the first ever platinum disc for Wheels of Fire. Jack wrote and sang most of the songs, including "I Feel Free", "White Room", "Politician" and perhaps the world's most performed guitar riff, in "Sunshine Of Your Love". Cream split in November 1968 at the height of their popularity; Jack felt that he had strayed too far from his ideals and wanted to re-discover his musical and social roots.
He began recording solo albums; the first being his influential Songs For A Tailor and thereafter commenced his policy of playing simultaneously in rock, jazz and classical formats, attempting to realise his personal and unique style of performance and recording which is an amalgam of these three plus the influence of other important world and ethnic music.
Around this time, during the American tour of the first of Jack's own bands (this one featuring guitarist Larry Coryell and Jimi Hendrix's drummer Mitch Mitchell), Jack was introduced to Tony Williams by John McLaughlin. He soon joined Tony's Lifetime, along with John and the late, great Larry Young; an experience he describes as "the musical time of my life". Frustrated by the breakup of Lifetime and greatly saddened by Hendrix's tragic death (Tony and Jack had been talking to Jimi about forming a "dream" band together), Jack found solace in returning to his heavy roots with the formation of West Bruce and Laing with Leslie West and Corky Laing.
From then on, Jack fronted many of his own bands (featuring, amongst others, such side people as Carla Bley, Mick Taylor, Simon Phillips, Tony Hymas, Billy Cobham, David Sancious and Gary Moore), recording numerous solo albums as well as collaborating on special projects with artists like Carla Bley (Escalator Over The Hill) and Kip Hanrahan (Desire Develops An Edge). He also worked as session man on carefully chosen dates with the likes of Lou Reed (Berlin) and Frank Zappa, with whom Jack co-wrote Apostrophe, which became Frank's biggest selling album.
In 1991 Jack performed in Vienna in a new, specially commissioned work with Michael Mantler and Mike Gibbs, accompanied by the Niederoesterreichischen Tonkuenstler Symphony Orchestra. He also completed a successful tour of ten European capitals with his thirteen-piece Latin/Jazz/Rock fusion orchestra. Throughout the early 1990s he increased his knowledge of World music, his two solo albums A Question of Time (Epic/Sony) and Somethin Els (CMP) stating the new direction towards which his music would evolve.
At the Guitar Legends festival in Seville, in 1992, Jack enjoyed playing with Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Steve Cropper and many other friends.
The year 1993 was special, starting with Jack's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Cream, and ending with an inspired fiftieth birthday concert which featured many of his old friends including Dick Heckstall-Smith, Maggie Reilly and Gary Moore. This event which was recorded and released as a CD box set entitled Cities of the Heart (CMP) led to Jack forming BBM with Gary Moore and Ginger Baker and subsequently releasing the top-ten album Around the Next Dream (Virgin).
In 1995, Jack concentrated on his keyboard playing and recorded a set of piano solos and duos with organist Bernie Worrell, who played previously with George Clinton, Funkadelic and Talking Heads. The release of the recording, entitled Monkjack, represented a new departure for Jack. He was delighted to have been invited to present this material at the Edinburgh Festival and the Queen Elizabeth Hall in September of that year.
In Copenhagen in the autumn of 1996, Jack took part in the first performances of Michael Mantler's School of Understanding, which has been described by Michael as a "sort-of-an-opera". There were further performances in Berlin early in 1998.
During the late 1990s, Jack toured with several iterations of Ringo Starr's All Star Band, along with guitarists Peter Frampton, Todd Rundgren and Dave Edmunds, keyboardists Gary Brooker and Eric Carmen, drummer Simon Kirke, and horn player Mark Rivera.
In 1999 and 2000 Jack returned to the studio with co-producer Kip Hanrahan to record his solo CD, Shadows in the Air, which hit #5 on the UK Jazz & Blues Chart following its 2001 release by Sanctuary Records. The album's cast featured a pantheon of musical guests, including Eric Clapton, Dr John, Gary Moore, Vernon Reid and Changuito Luis Quintana. Jack's supporting 2001-2002 world tour included the talents of Vernon Reid, Bernie Worrell, Robby Ameen, El Negro Horacio Hernandez, and Richie Flores, known collectively as Jack Bruce & The Cuicoland Express.
In 2002 Jack participated in a summer tour with A Walk Down Abbey Road, a tribute to The Beatles featuring Alan Parsons, Todd Rundgren, Mark Farner, Christopher Cross, Godfrey Townsend, John Beck and Steve Murphy. In November, Jack joined Uli Jon Roth, Glenn Hughes and Michael Schenker for the Legends of Rock tour.
Around this time, during the American tour of the first of Jack's own bands (this one featuring guitarist Larry Coryell and Jimi Hendrix's drummer Mitch Mitchell), Jack was introduced to Tony Williams by John McLaughlin. He soon joined Tony's Lifetime, along with John and the late, great Larry Young; an experience he describes as "the musical time of my life". Frustrated by the breakup of Lifetime and greatly saddened by Hendrix's tragic death (Tony and Jack had been talking to Jimi about forming a "dream" band together), Jack found solace in returning to his heavy roots with the formation of West Bruce and Laing with Leslie West and Corky Laing.
From then on, Jack fronted many of his own bands (featuring, amongst others, such side people as Carla Bley, Mick Taylor, Simon Phillips, Tony Hymas, Billy Cobham, David Sancious and Gary Moore), recording numerous solo albums as well as collaborating on special projects with artists like Carla Bley (Escalator Over The Hill) and Kip Hanrahan (Desire Develops An Edge). He also worked as session man on carefully chosen dates with the likes of Lou Reed (Berlin) and Frank Zappa, with whom Jack co-wrote Apostrophe, which became Frank's biggest selling album.
In 1991 Jack performed in Vienna in a new, specially commissioned work with Michael Mantler and Mike Gibbs, accompanied by the Niederoesterreichischen Tonkuenstler Symphony Orchestra. He also completed a successful tour of ten European capitals with his thirteen-piece Latin/Jazz/Rock fusion orchestra. Throughout the early 1990s he increased his knowledge of World music, his two solo albums A Question of Time (Epic/Sony) and Somethin Els (CMP) stating the new direction towards which his music would evolve.
At the Guitar Legends festival in Seville, in 1992, Jack enjoyed playing with Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Steve Cropper and many other friends.
The year 1993 was special, starting with Jack's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Cream, and ending with an inspired fiftieth birthday concert which featured many of his old friends including Dick Heckstall-Smith, Maggie Reilly and Gary Moore. This event which was recorded and released as a CD box set entitled Cities of the Heart (CMP) led to Jack forming BBM with Gary Moore and Ginger Baker and subsequently releasing the top-ten album Around the Next Dream (Virgin).
In 1995, Jack concentrated on his keyboard playing and recorded a set of piano solos and duos with organist Bernie Worrell, who played previously with George Clinton, Funkadelic and Talking Heads. The release of the recording, entitled Monkjack, represented a new departure for Jack. He was delighted to have been invited to present this material at the Edinburgh Festival and the Queen Elizabeth Hall in September of that year.
In Copenhagen in the autumn of 1996, Jack took part in the first performances of Michael Mantler's School of Understanding, which has been described by Michael as a "sort-of-an-opera". There were further performances in Berlin early in 1998.
During the late 1990s, Jack toured with several iterations of Ringo Starr's All Star Band, along with guitarists Peter Frampton, Todd Rundgren and Dave Edmunds, keyboardists Gary Brooker and Eric Carmen, drummer Simon Kirke, and horn player Mark Rivera.
In 1999 and 2000 Jack returned to the studio with co-producer Kip Hanrahan to record his solo CD, Shadows in the Air, which hit #5 on the UK Jazz & Blues Chart following its 2001 release by Sanctuary Records. The album's cast featured a pantheon of musical guests, including Eric Clapton, Dr John, Gary Moore, Vernon Reid and Changuito Luis Quintana. Jack's supporting 2001-2002 world tour included the talents of Vernon Reid, Bernie Worrell, Robby Ameen, El Negro Horacio Hernandez, and Richie Flores, known collectively as Jack Bruce & The Cuicoland Express.
In 2002 Jack participated in a summer tour with A Walk Down Abbey Road, a tribute to The Beatles featuring Alan Parsons, Todd Rundgren, Mark Farner, Christopher Cross, Godfrey Townsend, John Beck and Steve Murphy. In November, Jack joined Uli Jon Roth, Glenn Hughes and Michael Schenker for the Legends of Rock tour.
The year 2003 saw the release of Jack's second album on Sanctuary Records, More Jack Than God. Like its predecessor Shadows in the Air, the album was co-produced by Kip Hanrahan. Among the musicians was the core band from Shadows in the Air, Godfrey Townsend, and Jack's son, Malcolm Bruce. More Jack Than God blended a diverse range of musical styles from classic, Willie Dixon inspired blues, to hints of the Latin and World music flavours that Bruce and Hanrahan explored through the 1980s and 1990s, to the subtle and gentle beauty that reflected Jack's growing introspective approach to songwriting.
The year 2005 was a momentous one. Jack reunited with former bandmates Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker for Cream's first concert tour in 37 years. In May the band played four historic nights at London's Royal Albert Hall, which were recorded and subsequently released on both audio and video. In October the band played three concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City; during the same week Jack was honored, along with Ron Carter, with the Bass Player Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his pioneering musicianship and his outstanding influence on the development of modern bass technique. In February 2006 Jack took the stage at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California to accept a special Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Cream.
Recent years saw Jack continuing his involvement with his passion - music. In 2007 he was awarded with a Doctor of Music degree from his Alumni College, The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Two new albums were released in 2008. The first was Jack Bruce with the HR Big Band, versions of Jack performing songs old and new arranged for the wonderful German orchestra of the Hessische Rundfunk. The second was Seven Moons, an album of new material, with master guitarist, Robin Trower and drummer, Gary Husband. Also released in 2008 was Spirit, a multi-disc set of recordings of Jack's live performances at the BBC. Also released was the six CD box set entitled Can You Follow? which traces his career from the age of nineteen up until 2003.
In 2009 Jack was awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters from Glasgow Caledonian University.
2010 saw the release of Jack’s authorized biography, 'Composing Himself.' In 2011, Jack was awarded the third Bass Player International Lifetime Achievement Award at the NAMM Show in Los Angeles, released the amazing album, Live At The Milky Way with his Latin band The Cuicoland Express, toured and recorded with his new band, Spectrum Road featuring Vernon Reid (guitar), John Medeski (keyboards) and Cindy Blackman Santana (drums) as well as playing a special concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London celebrating its 60th anniversary. The event celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Blues in Great Britain, Jack played with his Big Blues Band and special guest Joe Bonamassa.
Festival appearances with his Big Blues Band continued throughout the UK and Europe. Jack also appeared as a special guest of the Stax label tribute band, The Staxs at Cornbury Festival 2011, which was recorded by Abbey Road Studios.
Jack started 2012 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 Jack. The completed documentary Jack Bruce - The Man behind the Bass was transmitted on BBC Scotland. It featured new interviews, with Bruce, Clapton, Baker and Brown, as well as the concert footage featuring new versions of six career spanning songs, We're Going Wrong, Sunshine of Your Love, Weird of Hermiston, Theme for an Imaginary Western, Keep it Down and Child Song.
February 2012 saw Jack playing in Havana, Cuba, along with guitarist Phil Manzanera, supporting the mambo band of Augusto Enriquez. March saw a residency at Ronnie Scott's in London supported by his Big Blues Band, followed by a UK tour. The concert at the Stables, Milton Keynes was recorded and a live double album Jack Bruce & his Big Blues Band - Live 2012 was released by Instant Live.
Spectrum Road was released in June 2012 by the U.S. Jazz record label Palmetto Records, accompanied by a series of dates at large Jazz festivals in North America and Europe throughout June and July.
Jack's 14th solo album Silver Rails was released worldwide during early 2014 to extremely good reviews - Rolling Stone commenting that Jack had finally moved past Cream - and to the delight of a vastly burgeoning group of very faithful fans, new as well as old. Jack and his beloved wife Margrit planned to spend time in their beautiful estancia in Majorca peeling grapes and making pa amb oli from their home grown tomatoes and olive oil. By mid-2014 Jack had several new musical pieces on the boil including a follow up to Candlelight again with lyrics by Margrit Seyffer.
On 25 October 2014 Jack passed away at the age of 71 at his home in Suffolk, surrounded by his family. His family stated: "It is with great sadness that we, Jack's family, announce the passing of our beloved Jack: husband, father, granddad, and all round legend. The world of music will be a poorer place without him but he lives on in his music and forever in our hearts."
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs SMSgt Lawrence McCarter SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D ] MSG Felipe De Leon Brown SGT Denny Espinosa SSG Stephen Rogerson LTC (Join to see) LTC Greg Henning Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO2 (Join to see) SSG Franklin Briant TSgt David L. SMSgt David A Asbury MSgt Paul Connors SSG Samuel Kermon SSG Michael Noll SSG William Jones
Jack Bruce - The Man Behind the Bass
Broadcast date - February 13th 2012
Jack Bruce fronted the Sixties supergroup Cream alongside Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker, and has played with everyone from Marvin Gaye to Jimi Hendrix and from Lulu to Lou Reed. ArtWorks Scotland tells the story of his life, from childhood in Scotland to global superstardom, through some of Jack's favourite songs and with contributions from Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Flea of Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Adam Clayton of U2.
The story encompasses some of the biggest riffs and rifts in rock, taking in family tragedy, drugs and near death. A specially chosen set of six songs mark crucial moments in Jack's life, including Cream's Sunshine of Your Love. Jack rerecorded the tracks with some of Scotland's finest musicians including folk trio Lau, percussionist Jim Sutherland, keyboard player Andy May, guitarist Taj Wyzgowski, drummer Chris Peacock, his nephew Nico Bruce on bass and string ensemble Mr McFall's Chamber.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JQrSjJaRpQ
Images:
1. Jack (with his wife, Margrit) accepts Grammy award for Cream
2. 1964 or so Graham Bond Organization Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce, Graham Bond and Dick Hechstall-Smith.
3. Office Cream Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce.
4. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction of Cream 1993 - Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker
Background from {[http://www.jackbruce.com/2008/Jack/Jack.htm]}
Jack (John Symon Asher) Bruce
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 was born to musical parents in the shipbuilding city of Glasgow, Scotland on 14 May 1943. His parents travelled extensively in Canada and the U.S.A. Jack attended 14 different schools, finishing his formal education at Bellahouston Academy and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, to which he won a scholarship for cello and composition. He left the Academy and his homeland at the age of 16, because of poverty and discouraged by his professors' lack of interest in his ideas.
Jack travelled to Italy and then England, playing double-bass in dance bands and jazz groups, and joined his first important band in 1962 in London. This was Alexis Korner's Blues Inc. with whom Charlie Watts, later to join the Rolling Stones, was their drummer. Jack left Alexis in 1963 to form a group with organist Graham Bond, guitarist John McLaughlin and drummer Ginger Baker. This group became the seminal Graham Bond Organisation after John left, and saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith joined. Jack was compelled to leave this band after three years by Ginger Baker, who said his playing was "too busy"!
Jack had to turn down Marvin Gaye's offer to join his U.S.-based band because of his impending first marriage. He then joined John Mayall's Blues Breakers, where he first met Eric Clapton, followed by Manfred Mann in an ill-advised attempt at commercialism. It was Ginger Baker who initially asked Jack to form a trio with Eric Clapton. Eric insisted that Jack would be the singer.
Cream went on to sell 35,000,000 albums in just over two years and was awarded the first ever platinum disc for Wheels of Fire. Jack wrote and sang most of the songs, including "I Feel Free", "White Room", "Politician" and perhaps the world's most performed guitar riff, in "Sunshine Of Your Love". Cream split in November 1968 at the height of their popularity; Jack felt that he had strayed too far from his ideals and wanted to re-discover his musical and social roots.
He began recording solo albums; the first being his influential Songs For A Tailor and thereafter commenced his policy of playing simultaneously in rock, jazz and classical formats, attempting to realise his personal and unique style of performance and recording which is an amalgam of these three plus the influence of other important world and ethnic music.
Around this time, during the American tour of the first of Jack's own bands (this one featuring guitarist Larry Coryell and Jimi Hendrix's drummer Mitch Mitchell), Jack was introduced to Tony Williams by John McLaughlin. He soon joined Tony's Lifetime, along with John and the late, great Larry Young; an experience he describes as "the musical time of my life". Frustrated by the breakup of Lifetime and greatly saddened by Hendrix's tragic death (Tony and Jack had been talking to Jimi about forming a "dream" band together), Jack found solace in returning to his heavy roots with the formation of West Bruce and Laing with Leslie West and Corky Laing.
From then on, Jack fronted many of his own bands (featuring, amongst others, such side people as Carla Bley, Mick Taylor, Simon Phillips, Tony Hymas, Billy Cobham, David Sancious and Gary Moore), recording numerous solo albums as well as collaborating on special projects with artists like Carla Bley (Escalator Over The Hill) and Kip Hanrahan (Desire Develops An Edge). He also worked as session man on carefully chosen dates with the likes of Lou Reed (Berlin) and Frank Zappa, with whom Jack co-wrote Apostrophe, which became Frank's biggest selling album.
In 1991 Jack performed in Vienna in a new, specially commissioned work with Michael Mantler and Mike Gibbs, accompanied by the Niederoesterreichischen Tonkuenstler Symphony Orchestra. He also completed a successful tour of ten European capitals with his thirteen-piece Latin/Jazz/Rock fusion orchestra. Throughout the early 1990s he increased his knowledge of World music, his two solo albums A Question of Time (Epic/Sony) and Somethin Els (CMP) stating the new direction towards which his music would evolve.
At the Guitar Legends festival in Seville, in 1992, Jack enjoyed playing with Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Steve Cropper and many other friends.
The year 1993 was special, starting with Jack's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Cream, and ending with an inspired fiftieth birthday concert which featured many of his old friends including Dick Heckstall-Smith, Maggie Reilly and Gary Moore. This event which was recorded and released as a CD box set entitled Cities of the Heart (CMP) led to Jack forming BBM with Gary Moore and Ginger Baker and subsequently releasing the top-ten album Around the Next Dream (Virgin).
In 1995, Jack concentrated on his keyboard playing and recorded a set of piano solos and duos with organist Bernie Worrell, who played previously with George Clinton, Funkadelic and Talking Heads. The release of the recording, entitled Monkjack, represented a new departure for Jack. He was delighted to have been invited to present this material at the Edinburgh Festival and the Queen Elizabeth Hall in September of that year.
In Copenhagen in the autumn of 1996, Jack took part in the first performances of Michael Mantler's School of Understanding, which has been described by Michael as a "sort-of-an-opera". There were further performances in Berlin early in 1998.
During the late 1990s, Jack toured with several iterations of Ringo Starr's All Star Band, along with guitarists Peter Frampton, Todd Rundgren and Dave Edmunds, keyboardists Gary Brooker and Eric Carmen, drummer Simon Kirke, and horn player Mark Rivera.
In 1999 and 2000 Jack returned to the studio with co-producer Kip Hanrahan to record his solo CD, Shadows in the Air, which hit #5 on the UK Jazz & Blues Chart following its 2001 release by Sanctuary Records. The album's cast featured a pantheon of musical guests, including Eric Clapton, Dr John, Gary Moore, Vernon Reid and Changuito Luis Quintana. Jack's supporting 2001-2002 world tour included the talents of Vernon Reid, Bernie Worrell, Robby Ameen, El Negro Horacio Hernandez, and Richie Flores, known collectively as Jack Bruce & The Cuicoland Express.
In 2002 Jack participated in a summer tour with A Walk Down Abbey Road, a tribute to The Beatles featuring Alan Parsons, Todd Rundgren, Mark Farner, Christopher Cross, Godfrey Townsend, John Beck and Steve Murphy. In November, Jack joined Uli Jon Roth, Glenn Hughes and Michael Schenker for the Legends of Rock tour.
Around this time, during the American tour of the first of Jack's own bands (this one featuring guitarist Larry Coryell and Jimi Hendrix's drummer Mitch Mitchell), Jack was introduced to Tony Williams by John McLaughlin. He soon joined Tony's Lifetime, along with John and the late, great Larry Young; an experience he describes as "the musical time of my life". Frustrated by the breakup of Lifetime and greatly saddened by Hendrix's tragic death (Tony and Jack had been talking to Jimi about forming a "dream" band together), Jack found solace in returning to his heavy roots with the formation of West Bruce and Laing with Leslie West and Corky Laing.
From then on, Jack fronted many of his own bands (featuring, amongst others, such side people as Carla Bley, Mick Taylor, Simon Phillips, Tony Hymas, Billy Cobham, David Sancious and Gary Moore), recording numerous solo albums as well as collaborating on special projects with artists like Carla Bley (Escalator Over The Hill) and Kip Hanrahan (Desire Develops An Edge). He also worked as session man on carefully chosen dates with the likes of Lou Reed (Berlin) and Frank Zappa, with whom Jack co-wrote Apostrophe, which became Frank's biggest selling album.
In 1991 Jack performed in Vienna in a new, specially commissioned work with Michael Mantler and Mike Gibbs, accompanied by the Niederoesterreichischen Tonkuenstler Symphony Orchestra. He also completed a successful tour of ten European capitals with his thirteen-piece Latin/Jazz/Rock fusion orchestra. Throughout the early 1990s he increased his knowledge of World music, his two solo albums A Question of Time (Epic/Sony) and Somethin Els (CMP) stating the new direction towards which his music would evolve.
At the Guitar Legends festival in Seville, in 1992, Jack enjoyed playing with Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Steve Cropper and many other friends.
The year 1993 was special, starting with Jack's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Cream, and ending with an inspired fiftieth birthday concert which featured many of his old friends including Dick Heckstall-Smith, Maggie Reilly and Gary Moore. This event which was recorded and released as a CD box set entitled Cities of the Heart (CMP) led to Jack forming BBM with Gary Moore and Ginger Baker and subsequently releasing the top-ten album Around the Next Dream (Virgin).
In 1995, Jack concentrated on his keyboard playing and recorded a set of piano solos and duos with organist Bernie Worrell, who played previously with George Clinton, Funkadelic and Talking Heads. The release of the recording, entitled Monkjack, represented a new departure for Jack. He was delighted to have been invited to present this material at the Edinburgh Festival and the Queen Elizabeth Hall in September of that year.
In Copenhagen in the autumn of 1996, Jack took part in the first performances of Michael Mantler's School of Understanding, which has been described by Michael as a "sort-of-an-opera". There were further performances in Berlin early in 1998.
During the late 1990s, Jack toured with several iterations of Ringo Starr's All Star Band, along with guitarists Peter Frampton, Todd Rundgren and Dave Edmunds, keyboardists Gary Brooker and Eric Carmen, drummer Simon Kirke, and horn player Mark Rivera.
In 1999 and 2000 Jack returned to the studio with co-producer Kip Hanrahan to record his solo CD, Shadows in the Air, which hit #5 on the UK Jazz & Blues Chart following its 2001 release by Sanctuary Records. The album's cast featured a pantheon of musical guests, including Eric Clapton, Dr John, Gary Moore, Vernon Reid and Changuito Luis Quintana. Jack's supporting 2001-2002 world tour included the talents of Vernon Reid, Bernie Worrell, Robby Ameen, El Negro Horacio Hernandez, and Richie Flores, known collectively as Jack Bruce & The Cuicoland Express.
In 2002 Jack participated in a summer tour with A Walk Down Abbey Road, a tribute to The Beatles featuring Alan Parsons, Todd Rundgren, Mark Farner, Christopher Cross, Godfrey Townsend, John Beck and Steve Murphy. In November, Jack joined Uli Jon Roth, Glenn Hughes and Michael Schenker for the Legends of Rock tour.
The year 2003 saw the release of Jack's second album on Sanctuary Records, More Jack Than God. Like its predecessor Shadows in the Air, the album was co-produced by Kip Hanrahan. Among the musicians was the core band from Shadows in the Air, Godfrey Townsend, and Jack's son, Malcolm Bruce. More Jack Than God blended a diverse range of musical styles from classic, Willie Dixon inspired blues, to hints of the Latin and World music flavours that Bruce and Hanrahan explored through the 1980s and 1990s, to the subtle and gentle beauty that reflected Jack's growing introspective approach to songwriting.
The year 2005 was a momentous one. Jack reunited with former bandmates Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker for Cream's first concert tour in 37 years. In May the band played four historic nights at London's Royal Albert Hall, which were recorded and subsequently released on both audio and video. In October the band played three concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City; during the same week Jack was honored, along with Ron Carter, with the Bass Player Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his pioneering musicianship and his outstanding influence on the development of modern bass technique. In February 2006 Jack took the stage at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California to accept a special Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Cream.
Recent years saw Jack continuing his involvement with his passion - music. In 2007 he was awarded with a Doctor of Music degree from his Alumni College, The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Two new albums were released in 2008. The first was Jack Bruce with the HR Big Band, versions of Jack performing songs old and new arranged for the wonderful German orchestra of the Hessische Rundfunk. The second was Seven Moons, an album of new material, with master guitarist, Robin Trower and drummer, Gary Husband. Also released in 2008 was Spirit, a multi-disc set of recordings of Jack's live performances at the BBC. Also released was the six CD box set entitled Can You Follow? which traces his career from the age of nineteen up until 2003.
In 2009 Jack was awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters from Glasgow Caledonian University.
2010 saw the release of Jack’s authorized biography, 'Composing Himself.' In 2011, Jack was awarded the third Bass Player International Lifetime Achievement Award at the NAMM Show in Los Angeles, released the amazing album, Live At The Milky Way with his Latin band The Cuicoland Express, toured and recorded with his new band, Spectrum Road featuring Vernon Reid (guitar), John Medeski (keyboards) and Cindy Blackman Santana (drums) as well as playing a special concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London celebrating its 60th anniversary. The event celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Blues in Great Britain, Jack played with his Big Blues Band and special guest Joe Bonamassa.
Festival appearances with his Big Blues Band continued throughout the UK and Europe. Jack also appeared as a special guest of the Stax label tribute band, The Staxs at Cornbury Festival 2011, which was recorded by Abbey Road Studios.
Jack started 2012 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 Jack. The completed documentary Jack Bruce - The Man behind the Bass was transmitted on BBC Scotland. It featured new interviews, with Bruce, Clapton, Baker and Brown, as well as the concert footage featuring new versions of six career spanning songs, We're Going Wrong, Sunshine of Your Love, Weird of Hermiston, Theme for an Imaginary Western, Keep it Down and Child Song.
February 2012 saw Jack playing in Havana, Cuba, along with guitarist Phil Manzanera, supporting the mambo band of Augusto Enriquez. March saw a residency at Ronnie Scott's in London supported by his Big Blues Band, followed by a UK tour. The concert at the Stables, Milton Keynes was recorded and a live double album Jack Bruce & his Big Blues Band - Live 2012 was released by Instant Live.
Spectrum Road was released in June 2012 by the U.S. Jazz record label Palmetto Records, accompanied by a series of dates at large Jazz festivals in North America and Europe throughout June and July.
Jack's 14th solo album Silver Rails was released worldwide during early 2014 to extremely good reviews - Rolling Stone commenting that Jack had finally moved past Cream - and to the delight of a vastly burgeoning group of very faithful fans, new as well as old. Jack and his beloved wife Margrit planned to spend time in their beautiful estancia in Majorca peeling grapes and making pa amb oli from their home grown tomatoes and olive oil. By mid-2014 Jack had several new musical pieces on the boil including a follow up to Candlelight again with lyrics by Margrit Seyffer.
On 25 October 2014 Jack passed away at the age of 71 at his home in Suffolk, surrounded by his family. His family stated: "It is with great sadness that we, Jack's family, announce the passing of our beloved Jack: husband, father, granddad, and all round legend. The world of music will be a poorer place without him but he lives on in his music and forever in our hearts."
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rope ladder to the moon documentary ( Jack Bruce )
Tony Palmer's 1969 documentary on Cream bassist Jack Bruce is now available on DVD. Jack Bruce: Rope Ladder to the Moon is a 55 minute documentary on the sin...
rope ladder to the moon documentary ( Jack Bruce )
Tony Palmer's 1969 documentary on Cream bassist Jack Bruce is now available on DVD. Jack Bruce: Rope Ladder to the Moon is a 55 minute documentary on the singer-songwriter, filmed around the same time that he was recording his jazz-oriented solo record, Songs for a Tailor. The film proves to be a snapshot of Bruce during a pivotal time in his career, just after Cream disbanded, and after he began his solo career that he has continued to this day.
Director Tony Palmer is known for his extensive work with musical artists, including the Beatles, Cream, and Jimi Hendrix. He also co-wrote and directed Frank Zappa's surreal 200 Motels.
Rope Ladder to the Moon originally aired on the BBC in 1971
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZF1HrWKi68
Images
1. Janet, Jack, newborn Malcom and big brother Jonas.
2. Jack Bruce playing a cello
3. Top of pops Cream
4. Jack Bruce and Ringo Star on a plane
Biographies
1. angelfire.com/ca/oldtimers/Obit.htm
2. imdb.com/name/nm0115499/bio
Background from {[http://www.angelfire.com/ca/oldtimers/Obit.html]}
Jack Bruce (A Retrospective)
John Symon Asher Bruce was born in Lanarkshire, near Glasgow, on May 14, 1943. He was called Jack at a very early age by his family, and the nickname stuck.
In 1947 the family emigrated to Canada. They crossed the Atlantic in mid-winter and Jack had vivid memories of seeing icebergs. Four-year-old Jack also took to conducting the ship's dance band. He was given a chair to stand on, in order to be better seen by the band. It seems his musical career had begun!
They disembarked in New York and then took the train across the border into Canada, settling in a suburb of Weston, Ontario. Jack had fond memories of Canada.
"I loved the weather. It was either very hot or very cold. I can remember the snow ploughs pushing the snow up as high as the house in the winter, which was thrilling"!
But Jack's father, Charlie, was an outspoken union activist and communist. His political activities did not go unnoticed! His union activity got him fired from his job and he had difficulty finding other long-term employment. It is probably safe to assume that he was 'blacklisted'.
Soon, the money began to run out and Jack's mother, Betty, decided to return to Scotland. The family's 'Canadian dream' came to an abrupt end.
After completing his primary education Jack's father wanted him to enter the workforce, learn a trade and join a union. But Betty had other ideas.
Jack was sent to Bellahouston Academy. It was considered something of a 'posh' school but it had an excellent music program.
The Bruce's were a very musical family and Jack had already shown a gift for music.
One of his teachers at the Academy passed out a harmonica to every child, which he probably paid for out of his own pocket. Jack quickly outgrew the simple harmonica and his parents bought him an expensive Hohner Chromatic, which allowed him to play all the notes of the chromatic scale in any key.
The school offered to teach their pupils any instrument they were interested in, however, there was a charge for certain instruments. The upright acoustic bass was free though.
Jack, no doubt aware that his parents struggled financially, expressed an interest in that instrument. There was a problem, however. Jack was simply too short to play it!
Jack was terribly disappointed, but one of his teachers suggested that he start with the cello, until he was tall enough to handle the bass. Jack's ability with the cello eventually brought him a scholarship to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music!
At sixteen, Jack was already playing with a band six nights a week and bringing home more money than his father! As might be expected, this was something of a problem.
One day a small ad in Melody Maker caught Jack's eye. The Murray Campbell Band was looking for a bassist who was comfortable with Maynard Ferguson and Dizzie Gillespie arrangements. Jack sent off a letter of application and was invited to audition for the job. This would be Jack's very first truly professional job and he was understandably nervous.
But Jack passed the audition with flying colours and was offered the job on the spot. After playing in Italy for almost a year he returned to London, only to be offered a job with Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated.
At this time, Janet Godfrey was a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl. She and her friends would go to The Marquee Club every Thursday night.
"The place was always absolutely packed" she recalls. She became friends with Johnny Parker, who played piano with Blues Incorporated, though they were not 'romantically' involved. One day, visiting Johnny's flat, she met Jack, who was 'crashing' there and sleeping on his couch. The two of them chatted away the afternoon and began dating soon after.
At about this time there would be an important shift in Jack's career. Charlie Watts left Blues Incorporated to join The Rolling Stones and Ginger Baker was recruited to replace him.
Jack had actually met Ginger earlier. One night he sat in for a brief set with The Bert Courtley Sextet and Ginger was on the drums.
"I was astounded by the music" Jack recalls. "I was especially amazed by Ginger. I had never heard a drummer play like that".
After Ginger joined Blues Incorporated he and Jack became close friends. Jack even moved into Ginger's flat for a time.
"I was very close to him. He was like an older brother to me" Jack says. He adds that he learned much from him, especially in terms of rhythm and tone. Graham Bond had also joined Blues Incorporated and after a time he, Jack and Ginger would play as a trio during the breaks while the rest of the band were off having a beer and a cigarette.
Graham so enjoyed playing as a trio that he decided to leave Alexis and proffered Jack and Ginger's resignations, without even telling them! John McLaughlin joined them and so was born the Graham Bond Quartet. But McLaughlin was soon dismissed and replaced by Dick Heckstall-Smith, and the name was changed to the Graham Bond Organision.
Jack and Janet were married at the Hampstead registry office on September 26, 1964. Janet simply left school, much to her parent's dismay but at that time in her life she cared only about Jack and the music scene. It was around this time too that Ginger decided to take over the running of the band. Graham was notoriously bad when it came to managing the finances and Ginger, who had a wife and child, simply decided to take control of the matter. It's possible that Graham was relieved to be rid of the responsibility.
But Ginger had also come to dislike Jack's playing. "I was experimenting, trying to take the bass in a melodic direction. Ginger thought that the bass should be in the background going plunky-plunk."
But Ginger, acting as manager, fired him. Jack reacted by refusing to leave. He just kept showing up for gigs, set up his amp, and played. Ginger tried to simply ignore him, for a time. But finally, enraged, he threatened Jack with a knife. At that point, Jack thought it best to leave. There relationship would never again be what it had been before.
But Jack was too good to be without work for long. He joined John Mayall's Bluesbreakers for a brief time and then Manfred Mann, only to be reunited with Ginger in Cream.
Ironically, the 'busy' playing that had led Ginger to fire Jack from the Graham Bond Organisation was what would become the hallmark of Cream. Their extended solos and improvisation captured audiences the world over. Their influence was undeniable and led to a legion of imitators.
Following the breakup of Cream, Jack began a successful solo career. Over the years he has played with a veritable who's who of outstanding musicians. He even got together with Ginger Baker for a number of concerts and short-lived bands. But with fame, success and money came the excesses that so often accompany them. Jack struggled with drug and alcohol abuse. Janet stood by him through thick and thin, but she was often left alone tending to their two boys, Jonas and Malcom.
When the boys were older they were enrolled in boarding school. Their parents found one that wasn't too far from home and which took both boys and girls. Jack thought that while the boys were away at school Janet would be able to travel with him. But Janet had been hoping to further her interrupted education. She wanted to go to college.
Today, Janet looks back on her marriage, saying; "I adored him. He could be a pain, and there were some terrible things that went on but I was with him nonetheless. I didn't like it but I just allowed these things to happen. I was tired and down with life, and with trying to help Jack all the time."
Nearing the end of 1979 things began to change. Jack was touring across Europe. In October of that year the band played in Stuttgart and after the show Jack was taken to a disco in the city. A tall young woman who was dancing caught his eye and he went out of his way to meet her. She was Margrit Seyffer, a member of a well-to-do family that ran a print business. Jack described it as love at first sight.
It was the beginning of the end of their marriage. In early 1980 divorce proceedings were initiated. The divorce was finalized in 1982 and later that year, Jack married Margrit, who became his manager for the next thirty-one years. (They had two daughters, Natascha and Kyla, and a son, Corin). Janet never re-married.
In 1997, Jack's firstborn son, Jonas, died from respiratory problems. Jo had been asthmatic since childhood and on the evening of October 8 he suffered a very severe asthma attack at a friend's flat in London. He managed to get down the stairs to the front door but he wasn't able to open it. He collapsed in the hallway, where he was eventually found by another resident. He was just twenty-eight years old. It was a sudden and tragic death, and Jack was crushed by his all to early passing.
Then, in 2003, Jack was diagnosed with cancer, and underwent a liver transplant. Although his immune system initially rejected the organ, he recovered and was able to participate in a reunion of Cream two years later. Jack, Eric and Ginger played four sold-out shows at the Royal Albert Hall, and three at Madison Square Garden, New York.
To many, Jack is the greatest bassist of all time! It might be said that he did for the bass what Eric Clapton did for the guitar.
He will be missed! He will be remembered!
2. Background from {[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0115499/bio]}
Jack Bruce Biography
Overview (3)
Born May 14, 1943 in Bishopbriggs, Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK
Died October 25, 2014 in Bures, Suffolk, England, UK (liver disease)
Birth Name John Symon Asher Bruce
Mini Bio (1)
Jack Bruce was born on May 14, 1943 in Bishopbriggs, Lanarkshire, Scotland as John Symon Asher Bruce. He was married to Margrit Seyffer and Janet Godfrey. He died on October 25, 2014 in Bures, Suffolk, England.
Spouse (2)
Margrit Seyffer (1982 - 25 October 2014) (his death) (3 children)
Janet Godfrey (26 September 1964 - 1982) (divorced) (2 children)
Trivia (23)
1. Member of 1960s bands John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, Cream.
2. Bassist and vocalist for Cream.
3. Elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as a member of Cream) in 1993.
4. Also a successful solo artist since the 1960s.
5. He was an influence on acclaimed Level 42 bassist Mark King, who paid tribute to Bruce by covering Cream's "I Feel Free", on his solo album, "Influences" (released 1984).
6. He was in a super-group in the seventies: West, Bruce & Lange with Mountain members (drummer and guitarist) Corky Laing and Leslie West
7. Cream were voted the 66th Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Artists of all time by Rolling Stone.
8. In May of 2005, reunited with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker for a Cream reunion concert.
9. Cream Reunion Concert (2005) was the first time Cream had played together since their 1993 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
10. Was the only member of Cream not to be from England; he was born in Scotland.
11. Played bass (as did fellow bass player Percy Jones) for the Liverpool Group, The Scaffold, comprising of Mike McGear (Paul McCartney's brother), Roger McGough (the poet) and John Gorman who recorded the hit record, "Lily the Pink".
12. Recovers from liver transplant he underwent 19 September 2003. [March 2004]
13. He left Scotland at age 16, and eventually went to London where he became a member of the influential Alexis Korner's Blues Inc, where Charlie Watts, later to join the Rolling Stones, was the drummer.
14. His parents traveled extensively in Canada and the USA, and Jack attended 14 different schools. He attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, to which he won a scholarship for cello and composition.
15. From the early days of The Graham Bond Organization and beyond, Jack Bruce was usually at odds with percussionist Ginger Baker. Whilst they had nothing but respect for each other as musicians, as people there was usually considerable tension between the two men.
16. Was classically trained at playing the cello.
17. Officially credited with Pete Brown as writing most of the songs by Cream.
18. Unlike many musicians, Jack Bruce could read music.
19. Is regarded as one of the finest bass players of all time.
20. Was the lead vocalist and bassist with the band BBM (Baker Bruce Moore). It didn't last, owing to Bruce and Baker having a few violent confrontations.
21. Manfred Mann recruited Bruce for a brief spell as the group's bassist.
22. During the days of Cream, Jack Bruce produced some of the best concert improvisations, along with colleagues Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker.
23. After several blazing arguments, Bruce was fired from the Graham Bond Organization group by Ginger Baker. The two men wouldn't have any further contact with each other, until the band Cream was formed in 1966.
Personal Quotes (11)
1. I honestly think that if it hadn't been for that band [Cream], I would have had a perfectly respectable career in perhaps a more esoteric way.
2. When he joined Blues Incorporated they played a lot of "society gigs: Lady Londonderry's ball, stuff like that - because Alexis Korner was a hooray. We'd do things like Lord Rothschild's party: that was quite a gig. Ginger Baker, who was using a lot of dope at the time, ended up asleep in Lord Rothschild's bed, and I remember flouncing off down the drive and his lordship running after me going, 'Please don't go.' And the Duke of Edinburgh [Prince Philip] coming up and saying: 'Could you play a waltz?' 'No we fucking can't.' "
3. I was working in Italy on an American air base, and I got very friendly with a lot of the black guys there. And that was when I first heard Charles Mingus. I immediately realised that that was what I wanted to be: a bass player who composed. I knew that I wanted to write, but I hadn't put the two things together. As soon as I heard him, that was it.
4. Even Eric Clapton, with his tremendous solo success - it's still Cream that people want to talk about. He complains about it too.
5. Asked whom he regards as the best bass players in pop and rock history: "If you're talking electric bass, it's very, very simple: James Jamerson, Paul McCartney, Jaco Pastorius, me."
6. Most rock stars are very good at one thing, and no disrespect to that. But I would have been bored in five minutes if that was all it had been about.
7. I'd already been through marriage and had two kids by the time I met Natascha's mum, Margrit. We met in '79 and suddenly I had this whole new life. I moved to Margrit's house in Germany, we got married and Natascha came along 13 days after the wedding. We just got down the aisle in time.
Because I'd already been a dad and my boys were quite grown-up, I foolishly thought that I knew all there was to know about being a parent. Well, I didn't. No parent does. You make all the same mistakes. And you make some new mistakes, too. But, let's be honest here, I've never claimed to be a "great" parent. I think I'm an okay parent, but I'd put myself in the category of a musician-who-happened-to-become-a-father. I'm definitely not a father-who-happened-to-be-a-musician.
8. If there is such a thing as an addictive gene, then I had it. I had been getting through vast quantities of heroin for several years. Not sniffing, snorting or smoking it - I was mainlining. When the doctors saw me, they said I was one of the worst cases they'd ever seen. Obviously I tried to get off the stuff - I'd done acupuncture, cold turkey, rehab, sleep therapy, you name it - but heroin gets you like that. It steals your soul and takes its place. And let me tell you, it's not a particularly good substitute.
9. Unfortunately, I also had to spend long periods away from home. Because of some problems I'd had with managers and record contracts, touring was the only way I could make any money, so I was always on the road. My first family suffered even more from this, because of the madness that surrounded Cream and the aftermath of Cream, but I was doing my best - with Margrit's constant vigilance and assistance - to have a proper relationship with my family.
10. There are some of my peers - and I'm not going to name names - who have been awful fathers. You could argue that it's the nature of the business, but I wouldn't agree with that. Some musicians I know are incredible fathers. Like Keith Richards. A fantastic dad. You wouldn't think it, but, if times were tough, you could be sure Keith would be there. If you needed somebody to do the school run, Keith was your man.
11. Would I do another [Cream] reunion? Sure, I'd be there like a shot. Ah, but... you know how these things are."
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Tony Palmer's 1969 documentary on Cream bassist Jack Bruce is now available on DVD. Jack Bruce: Rope Ladder to the Moon is a 55 minute documentary on the singer-songwriter, filmed around the same time that he was recording his jazz-oriented solo record, Songs for a Tailor. The film proves to be a snapshot of Bruce during a pivotal time in his career, just after Cream disbanded, and after he began his solo career that he has continued to this day.
Director Tony Palmer is known for his extensive work with musical artists, including the Beatles, Cream, and Jimi Hendrix. He also co-wrote and directed Frank Zappa's surreal 200 Motels.
Rope Ladder to the Moon originally aired on the BBC in 1971
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZF1HrWKi68
Images
1. Janet, Jack, newborn Malcom and big brother Jonas.
2. Jack Bruce playing a cello
3. Top of pops Cream
4. Jack Bruce and Ringo Star on a plane
Biographies
1. angelfire.com/ca/oldtimers/Obit.htm
2. imdb.com/name/nm0115499/bio
Background from {[http://www.angelfire.com/ca/oldtimers/Obit.html]}
Jack Bruce (A Retrospective)
John Symon Asher Bruce was born in Lanarkshire, near Glasgow, on May 14, 1943. He was called Jack at a very early age by his family, and the nickname stuck.
In 1947 the family emigrated to Canada. They crossed the Atlantic in mid-winter and Jack had vivid memories of seeing icebergs. Four-year-old Jack also took to conducting the ship's dance band. He was given a chair to stand on, in order to be better seen by the band. It seems his musical career had begun!
They disembarked in New York and then took the train across the border into Canada, settling in a suburb of Weston, Ontario. Jack had fond memories of Canada.
"I loved the weather. It was either very hot or very cold. I can remember the snow ploughs pushing the snow up as high as the house in the winter, which was thrilling"!
But Jack's father, Charlie, was an outspoken union activist and communist. His political activities did not go unnoticed! His union activity got him fired from his job and he had difficulty finding other long-term employment. It is probably safe to assume that he was 'blacklisted'.
Soon, the money began to run out and Jack's mother, Betty, decided to return to Scotland. The family's 'Canadian dream' came to an abrupt end.
After completing his primary education Jack's father wanted him to enter the workforce, learn a trade and join a union. But Betty had other ideas.
Jack was sent to Bellahouston Academy. It was considered something of a 'posh' school but it had an excellent music program.
The Bruce's were a very musical family and Jack had already shown a gift for music.
One of his teachers at the Academy passed out a harmonica to every child, which he probably paid for out of his own pocket. Jack quickly outgrew the simple harmonica and his parents bought him an expensive Hohner Chromatic, which allowed him to play all the notes of the chromatic scale in any key.
The school offered to teach their pupils any instrument they were interested in, however, there was a charge for certain instruments. The upright acoustic bass was free though.
Jack, no doubt aware that his parents struggled financially, expressed an interest in that instrument. There was a problem, however. Jack was simply too short to play it!
Jack was terribly disappointed, but one of his teachers suggested that he start with the cello, until he was tall enough to handle the bass. Jack's ability with the cello eventually brought him a scholarship to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music!
At sixteen, Jack was already playing with a band six nights a week and bringing home more money than his father! As might be expected, this was something of a problem.
One day a small ad in Melody Maker caught Jack's eye. The Murray Campbell Band was looking for a bassist who was comfortable with Maynard Ferguson and Dizzie Gillespie arrangements. Jack sent off a letter of application and was invited to audition for the job. This would be Jack's very first truly professional job and he was understandably nervous.
But Jack passed the audition with flying colours and was offered the job on the spot. After playing in Italy for almost a year he returned to London, only to be offered a job with Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated.
At this time, Janet Godfrey was a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl. She and her friends would go to The Marquee Club every Thursday night.
"The place was always absolutely packed" she recalls. She became friends with Johnny Parker, who played piano with Blues Incorporated, though they were not 'romantically' involved. One day, visiting Johnny's flat, she met Jack, who was 'crashing' there and sleeping on his couch. The two of them chatted away the afternoon and began dating soon after.
At about this time there would be an important shift in Jack's career. Charlie Watts left Blues Incorporated to join The Rolling Stones and Ginger Baker was recruited to replace him.
Jack had actually met Ginger earlier. One night he sat in for a brief set with The Bert Courtley Sextet and Ginger was on the drums.
"I was astounded by the music" Jack recalls. "I was especially amazed by Ginger. I had never heard a drummer play like that".
After Ginger joined Blues Incorporated he and Jack became close friends. Jack even moved into Ginger's flat for a time.
"I was very close to him. He was like an older brother to me" Jack says. He adds that he learned much from him, especially in terms of rhythm and tone. Graham Bond had also joined Blues Incorporated and after a time he, Jack and Ginger would play as a trio during the breaks while the rest of the band were off having a beer and a cigarette.
Graham so enjoyed playing as a trio that he decided to leave Alexis and proffered Jack and Ginger's resignations, without even telling them! John McLaughlin joined them and so was born the Graham Bond Quartet. But McLaughlin was soon dismissed and replaced by Dick Heckstall-Smith, and the name was changed to the Graham Bond Organision.
Jack and Janet were married at the Hampstead registry office on September 26, 1964. Janet simply left school, much to her parent's dismay but at that time in her life she cared only about Jack and the music scene. It was around this time too that Ginger decided to take over the running of the band. Graham was notoriously bad when it came to managing the finances and Ginger, who had a wife and child, simply decided to take control of the matter. It's possible that Graham was relieved to be rid of the responsibility.
But Ginger had also come to dislike Jack's playing. "I was experimenting, trying to take the bass in a melodic direction. Ginger thought that the bass should be in the background going plunky-plunk."
But Ginger, acting as manager, fired him. Jack reacted by refusing to leave. He just kept showing up for gigs, set up his amp, and played. Ginger tried to simply ignore him, for a time. But finally, enraged, he threatened Jack with a knife. At that point, Jack thought it best to leave. There relationship would never again be what it had been before.
But Jack was too good to be without work for long. He joined John Mayall's Bluesbreakers for a brief time and then Manfred Mann, only to be reunited with Ginger in Cream.
Ironically, the 'busy' playing that had led Ginger to fire Jack from the Graham Bond Organisation was what would become the hallmark of Cream. Their extended solos and improvisation captured audiences the world over. Their influence was undeniable and led to a legion of imitators.
Following the breakup of Cream, Jack began a successful solo career. Over the years he has played with a veritable who's who of outstanding musicians. He even got together with Ginger Baker for a number of concerts and short-lived bands. But with fame, success and money came the excesses that so often accompany them. Jack struggled with drug and alcohol abuse. Janet stood by him through thick and thin, but she was often left alone tending to their two boys, Jonas and Malcom.
When the boys were older they were enrolled in boarding school. Their parents found one that wasn't too far from home and which took both boys and girls. Jack thought that while the boys were away at school Janet would be able to travel with him. But Janet had been hoping to further her interrupted education. She wanted to go to college.
Today, Janet looks back on her marriage, saying; "I adored him. He could be a pain, and there were some terrible things that went on but I was with him nonetheless. I didn't like it but I just allowed these things to happen. I was tired and down with life, and with trying to help Jack all the time."
Nearing the end of 1979 things began to change. Jack was touring across Europe. In October of that year the band played in Stuttgart and after the show Jack was taken to a disco in the city. A tall young woman who was dancing caught his eye and he went out of his way to meet her. She was Margrit Seyffer, a member of a well-to-do family that ran a print business. Jack described it as love at first sight.
It was the beginning of the end of their marriage. In early 1980 divorce proceedings were initiated. The divorce was finalized in 1982 and later that year, Jack married Margrit, who became his manager for the next thirty-one years. (They had two daughters, Natascha and Kyla, and a son, Corin). Janet never re-married.
In 1997, Jack's firstborn son, Jonas, died from respiratory problems. Jo had been asthmatic since childhood and on the evening of October 8 he suffered a very severe asthma attack at a friend's flat in London. He managed to get down the stairs to the front door but he wasn't able to open it. He collapsed in the hallway, where he was eventually found by another resident. He was just twenty-eight years old. It was a sudden and tragic death, and Jack was crushed by his all to early passing.
Then, in 2003, Jack was diagnosed with cancer, and underwent a liver transplant. Although his immune system initially rejected the organ, he recovered and was able to participate in a reunion of Cream two years later. Jack, Eric and Ginger played four sold-out shows at the Royal Albert Hall, and three at Madison Square Garden, New York.
To many, Jack is the greatest bassist of all time! It might be said that he did for the bass what Eric Clapton did for the guitar.
He will be missed! He will be remembered!
2. Background from {[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0115499/bio]}
Jack Bruce Biography
Overview (3)
Born May 14, 1943 in Bishopbriggs, Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK
Died October 25, 2014 in Bures, Suffolk, England, UK (liver disease)
Birth Name John Symon Asher Bruce
Mini Bio (1)
Jack Bruce was born on May 14, 1943 in Bishopbriggs, Lanarkshire, Scotland as John Symon Asher Bruce. He was married to Margrit Seyffer and Janet Godfrey. He died on October 25, 2014 in Bures, Suffolk, England.
Spouse (2)
Margrit Seyffer (1982 - 25 October 2014) (his death) (3 children)
Janet Godfrey (26 September 1964 - 1982) (divorced) (2 children)
Trivia (23)
1. Member of 1960s bands John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, Cream.
2. Bassist and vocalist for Cream.
3. Elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as a member of Cream) in 1993.
4. Also a successful solo artist since the 1960s.
5. He was an influence on acclaimed Level 42 bassist Mark King, who paid tribute to Bruce by covering Cream's "I Feel Free", on his solo album, "Influences" (released 1984).
6. He was in a super-group in the seventies: West, Bruce & Lange with Mountain members (drummer and guitarist) Corky Laing and Leslie West
7. Cream were voted the 66th Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Artists of all time by Rolling Stone.
8. In May of 2005, reunited with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker for a Cream reunion concert.
9. Cream Reunion Concert (2005) was the first time Cream had played together since their 1993 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
10. Was the only member of Cream not to be from England; he was born in Scotland.
11. Played bass (as did fellow bass player Percy Jones) for the Liverpool Group, The Scaffold, comprising of Mike McGear (Paul McCartney's brother), Roger McGough (the poet) and John Gorman who recorded the hit record, "Lily the Pink".
12. Recovers from liver transplant he underwent 19 September 2003. [March 2004]
13. He left Scotland at age 16, and eventually went to London where he became a member of the influential Alexis Korner's Blues Inc, where Charlie Watts, later to join the Rolling Stones, was the drummer.
14. His parents traveled extensively in Canada and the USA, and Jack attended 14 different schools. He attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, to which he won a scholarship for cello and composition.
15. From the early days of The Graham Bond Organization and beyond, Jack Bruce was usually at odds with percussionist Ginger Baker. Whilst they had nothing but respect for each other as musicians, as people there was usually considerable tension between the two men.
16. Was classically trained at playing the cello.
17. Officially credited with Pete Brown as writing most of the songs by Cream.
18. Unlike many musicians, Jack Bruce could read music.
19. Is regarded as one of the finest bass players of all time.
20. Was the lead vocalist and bassist with the band BBM (Baker Bruce Moore). It didn't last, owing to Bruce and Baker having a few violent confrontations.
21. Manfred Mann recruited Bruce for a brief spell as the group's bassist.
22. During the days of Cream, Jack Bruce produced some of the best concert improvisations, along with colleagues Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker.
23. After several blazing arguments, Bruce was fired from the Graham Bond Organization group by Ginger Baker. The two men wouldn't have any further contact with each other, until the band Cream was formed in 1966.
Personal Quotes (11)
1. I honestly think that if it hadn't been for that band [Cream], I would have had a perfectly respectable career in perhaps a more esoteric way.
2. When he joined Blues Incorporated they played a lot of "society gigs: Lady Londonderry's ball, stuff like that - because Alexis Korner was a hooray. We'd do things like Lord Rothschild's party: that was quite a gig. Ginger Baker, who was using a lot of dope at the time, ended up asleep in Lord Rothschild's bed, and I remember flouncing off down the drive and his lordship running after me going, 'Please don't go.' And the Duke of Edinburgh [Prince Philip] coming up and saying: 'Could you play a waltz?' 'No we fucking can't.' "
3. I was working in Italy on an American air base, and I got very friendly with a lot of the black guys there. And that was when I first heard Charles Mingus. I immediately realised that that was what I wanted to be: a bass player who composed. I knew that I wanted to write, but I hadn't put the two things together. As soon as I heard him, that was it.
4. Even Eric Clapton, with his tremendous solo success - it's still Cream that people want to talk about. He complains about it too.
5. Asked whom he regards as the best bass players in pop and rock history: "If you're talking electric bass, it's very, very simple: James Jamerson, Paul McCartney, Jaco Pastorius, me."
6. Most rock stars are very good at one thing, and no disrespect to that. But I would have been bored in five minutes if that was all it had been about.
7. I'd already been through marriage and had two kids by the time I met Natascha's mum, Margrit. We met in '79 and suddenly I had this whole new life. I moved to Margrit's house in Germany, we got married and Natascha came along 13 days after the wedding. We just got down the aisle in time.
Because I'd already been a dad and my boys were quite grown-up, I foolishly thought that I knew all there was to know about being a parent. Well, I didn't. No parent does. You make all the same mistakes. And you make some new mistakes, too. But, let's be honest here, I've never claimed to be a "great" parent. I think I'm an okay parent, but I'd put myself in the category of a musician-who-happened-to-become-a-father. I'm definitely not a father-who-happened-to-be-a-musician.
8. If there is such a thing as an addictive gene, then I had it. I had been getting through vast quantities of heroin for several years. Not sniffing, snorting or smoking it - I was mainlining. When the doctors saw me, they said I was one of the worst cases they'd ever seen. Obviously I tried to get off the stuff - I'd done acupuncture, cold turkey, rehab, sleep therapy, you name it - but heroin gets you like that. It steals your soul and takes its place. And let me tell you, it's not a particularly good substitute.
9. Unfortunately, I also had to spend long periods away from home. Because of some problems I'd had with managers and record contracts, touring was the only way I could make any money, so I was always on the road. My first family suffered even more from this, because of the madness that surrounded Cream and the aftermath of Cream, but I was doing my best - with Margrit's constant vigilance and assistance - to have a proper relationship with my family.
10. There are some of my peers - and I'm not going to name names - who have been awful fathers. You could argue that it's the nature of the business, but I wouldn't agree with that. Some musicians I know are incredible fathers. Like Keith Richards. A fantastic dad. You wouldn't think it, but, if times were tough, you could be sure Keith would be there. If you needed somebody to do the school run, Keith was your man.
11. Would I do another [Cream] reunion? Sure, I'd be there like a shot. Ah, but... you know how these things are."
FYI CPL Dave Hoover Sgt John H. Maj Wayne CristSGM Bill FrazerCSM (Join to see)SSG Jeffrey LeakeSSG Paul HeadleeSGM Major StroupeCPL Michael PeckSSG Jeff Furgerson]Sgt (Join to see)PO1 Steve Ditto SPC Michael Terrell CPL Douglas ChryslerSP5 Geoffrey Vannerson LTC John Shaw MSgt Paul Connors SPC Matthew Lamb GySgt John HudsonSP5 Jeannie Carle
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LTC Stephen F.
Jack Bruce The Cream Of Cream Complete Instructional 1998
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx29x2x3Odc
Images:
1. Jack and Mick Taylor, c.1975
2. Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton relaxing
3. Young Jack Bruce
4. Jack at his 50th Birthday Concert
5. Jack Bruce, playing his six string bass with Manfred Man
FYI LTC John Shaw SPC Diana D. LTC Hillary Luton
1SG Steven ImermanSSG Pete FishGySgt Gary CordeiroPO1 H Gene LawrenceSPC Chris Bayner-CwikSgt Jim BelanusSGM Bill FrazerMSG Tom EarleySSgt Marian MitchellSGT Michael HearnPO2 Frederick DunnSP5 Dennis LobergerCPO John BjorgeSGT Randell RoseSSG Jimmy CernichSGT Denny EspinosaMSG Fred Bucci
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx29x2x3Odc
Images:
1. Jack and Mick Taylor, c.1975
2. Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton relaxing
3. Young Jack Bruce
4. Jack at his 50th Birthday Concert
5. Jack Bruce, playing his six string bass with Manfred Man
FYI LTC John Shaw SPC Diana D. LTC Hillary Luton
1SG Steven ImermanSSG Pete FishGySgt Gary CordeiroPO1 H Gene LawrenceSPC Chris Bayner-CwikSgt Jim BelanusSGM Bill FrazerMSG Tom EarleySSgt Marian MitchellSGT Michael HearnPO2 Frederick DunnSP5 Dennis LobergerCPO John BjorgeSGT Randell RoseSSG Jimmy CernichSGT Denny EspinosaMSG Fred Bucci
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