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Born: 1943 05 14
iSound Site: www.isound.com/jack_bruce
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Jack Bruce, composer, singer, bassist and multi-instrumentalist, was born to musical parents in the shipbuilding city of Glasgow, Scotland on May 14, 1943.
His parents traveled extensively in Canada and the USA. Jack attended 14 different schools finishing his formal e |
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| A Question of Time
by Jack Bruce
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Label: Sony
1989-09-20
Media: Audio CD
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Tracklisting:
1. Life on Earth
2. Make Love
3. No Surrender
4. Flying
5. Hey Now Princess
6. Blues You Can't Lose
7. Obsession
8. Kwela
9. Let Me Be
10. Only Playing Games
11. Question of Time
12. Grease the Wheels
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Jack Bruce, composer, singer, bassist and multi-instrumentalist, was born to musical parents in the shipbuilding city of Glasgow, Scotland on May 14, 1943.
His parents traveled extensively in Canada and the USA. 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 17 because of poverty and discouraged by his professors' lack of interest in his ideas.
Jack traveled to Italy and then England, playing double-bass in dance bands and jazz groups, and joined his first important band in 1962 in London: Alexis Korner's Blues Inc., with whom Charlie Watts, later to join the Rolling Stones, was 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!" Because of his impending first marriage, Marvin Gaye's offer to join his U.S.-based band had to be turned down. But Jack 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 him to form a trio with Eric Clapton. Eric then insisted that Jack be the singer.
Cream went on to sell 35,000,000 albums and were awarded the first ever platinum disc for Wheels of Fire. Jack sang and composed most of the songs, collaborating with lyricist Pete Brown. Songs like "I Feel Free," "White Room," "Politician," and "Sunshine Of Your Love" where all sung and composed by Mr. Bruce.
Cream split in 1969 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 began his policy of playing simultaneously in rock, jazz, and classical formats, attempting to realize 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 most musical in my life." Frustrated by the break-up of Lifetime and greatly saddened by Hendrix's tragic death, Jack found solace in returning to his heavy roots with the formation of West Bruce and Laing with Leslie West and Corky Laing.
Since then, Jack has fronted many of his own bands, featuring musicians as Carla Bley, Mick Taylor (who left the Rolling Stones to join Jack's band), Simon Phillips, Tony Hymas, Billy Cobham, David Sancious, Bernie Worrell and Gary Moore. He has recorded 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, Vertical's Currency, Exotica, All Roads are Made of the Flesh, A Thousand Nights and a Night). Throughout the eighties, Jack was also a frequent contributor to the New York concortium/band of drummer Anton Fier, The Golden Palominos.
Jack has worked as session man on carefully chosen dates with artists like Lou Reed (Berlin) and Frank Zappa (Apostrophe).
In 1991 he performed in Vienna in a new, specially commissioned work with Michael Mantler and Mike Gibbs, accompanied by the Niederosterreichischen Tonkunstler Symphony Orchestra. He also completed a successful tour of ten European capitals with his thirteen piece Latin/Jazz/Rock fusion orchestra.
More recently he has been increasing his knowledge of World musics, and two recent solo albums A Question of Time (Epic/Sony) and Somethin Els (CMP) state his musical position.
In 1992 at the Guitar Legends festival in Seville, Jack enjoyed himself playing with Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Steve Cropper, and many other friends.
1993 was a special year 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).
During 1995 Jack concentrated on his piano playing and recorded Monkjack, a CD of nine new songs and three oldies, featuring solo piano and duets on Hammond organ with premier funk keyboardist Bernie Worrell. This represented a new departure for Jack and he was delighted to be invited to present this new material at the Edinburgh Festival and the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Jack is today continuing his tradition of moving between many different musics and collaborations. He appeared as part of the Alexis Korner benefit concert and contributed significantly to The Knights of the Blues Table, an album project compiled by lyricist Peter Brown.
Jack has recently finished a children's musical based on the constellations entitled Little Stars which is being published by Warner Chppell Music. He has produced and composed the music for The Slab Boys, a feature film adapted by the Scottish writer/artist John Byrne from his acclaimed trilogy of plays.
During August of '96, Jack performed in concerts in Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Germany with Chaka Khan before traveling to Copenhagen to sing in Michael Mantler's new opera, The Language School.
An extensive four CD box set of Cream material, Those Were the Days, was released in late September. Previously unreleased material and demos serve to further demonstrate Jack's prominant role in this legendary band..
He has toured Europe and the states with Ringo Starr's All Starr Band, featuring Jack, and band-mates Gary Brooker, Peter Frampton, Todd Rundgren, Simon Kirke, Mark Rivera and Ringo. A video of the band's Detriot appearance demonstrates the power of this band, and prominantly features Mr. Bruce.
Jack appears on various "historical" releases, like Live on the Old Grey Whistle Test, showcases BBC performances from the mid-seventies, with Carla Bley, Mick Taylor and more.
He is working on a new solo record, continues to collaborate with poet Peter Brown, mastermind Kip Hanrahan and generally continues to be involved and vital.
Visit the "official" Jack Bruce web site at http://www.jackbruce.com
Bio written by: anon |
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