Jack Bruce & The HR Big Band: More Jack Than Blues

Rating: ★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Jack Bruce (b)

Label:

MIG Music

February/2016

Catalogue Number:

80312

RecordDate:

2006

There are many ways to remember Bruce, and this CD/DVD combo isn’t the worst place to start. A year or so post the Cream reunion, the man’s in pretty good fettle, still up for necking a Becks before his encore, still setting the pace for a band half his age, while those pipes are in decent repair. If they do wobble he can substitute a fearsome roar, as on a coruscating cut of ‘Spoonful’. The split between Cream and solo material is about 50/50, with the accompanying footage including ‘White Room’. But what lifts the whole beyond the ordinary is the vibrant HR Big Band, whipped into shape by Jorg Achim Keller. The arrangements are massive, with a notably punchy ‘We’re Going Wrong’ and a catapulting ‘Never Tell Your Mother She’s Out Of Tune’. The crowd, rightly, are ecstatic and Bruce is suitably knocked out himself. But the biggest grin goes to guitar man Martin Scales who somehow has to be Clapton/Clempson/Spedding and totally nails it. Look, mum, it’s me and Jack Bruce!

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