Jack Bruce, jazz-rock bass icon, dies aged 71
Monday, October 27, 2014
The music world has been mourning the loss of one of its greatest and most influential figures as news that former Cream bassist and vocalist, Jack Bruce, has died aged 71 after a long struggle with liver disease.
News of his death was confirmed in a statement released by his family on Saturday 25 October: “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.”
Classically and jazz trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, Bruce rose to great acclaim in blues-rock power trio Cream alongside drummer Ginger Baker and guitarist Eric Clapton, forging a super-charged sound featuring intense extended improvisations. Bruce had been at the heart of the British blues boom performing as a member of such bands as Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, the Graham Bond Organisation, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Manfred Mann. But it was with Cream that he consolidated his powerful contrapuntal bass lines, famously joking that Cream were really meant to be the Ornette Coleman Trio with Eric as Ornette Coleman, “only we never told him”.
He continued his questing improvisatory approach with jazz drum legend Tony Williams as part of his band Lifetime, alongside guitar icon John McLaughlin and organist Larry Young as well as working with revered composer and pianist Carla Bley on her acclaimed 1971 album Escalator Over The Hill. He continued his jazz-rock associations from 2008 performing as part of a Tony Williams Lifetime Tribute Band with drummer Cindy Blackman-Santana, keyboardist John Medeski, and guitarist Vernon Reid.
Speaking toJazzwise in 2011 Bruce described his early days at music college: “I got a scholarship to study classical cello at the Royal Scottish Academy for Music and Drama – but I didn’t go for long, and now they’ve given me an honorary doctorate! So it shows you that what you should really do is go for a few months then drop out – I recommend that to every student.”
Tributes were posted across social media by his countless fans, friends and fellow musicians including one from his former Cream bandmate Eric Clapton who said: “He was a great musician and composer, and a tremendous inspiration to me”.
– Mike Flynn