麻豆约拍

Paul Jones looks back at the career of Jack Bruce (1943 - 2014). Including his solo work and recordings with bands including Cream and Baker, Bruce and Moore. Jack, whose approach to the bass guitar revolutionised the instrument enjoyed a career spanning more than 50 years.

The blues loomed large in Jack's life from the time of his arrival in London shortly after being asked to leave the Royal Scottish Academy of Music for the then grievous sin of playing in dance bands. He joined Blues Incorporated before moving to the Graham Bond Organisation as well as spending brief spells with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Manfred Mann.

After the successful but tempestuous existence of Cream (1966-69), for whom Jack wrote most of and sang lead vocals on their hits such as White Room and The Sunshine Of Your Love, his solo career took off. Thereafter his work would be a series of collaborations with a long and diverse list of musicians including Frank Zappa, Ringo Starr, Robin Trower and John McLaughlin. Through all of this the blues remained a constant in Jack's work right up until his final album Silver Rails, released earlier this year.