GBlog

Zuweilen bemerkt man erst (wie ich schon häufiger feststellte), wenn man vom Tod eines Menschen erfährt, wie wichtig er einem war. Jack Bruce ist gestern gestorben - after a long battle with liver cancer.

I started playing with Jack in a free-jazz context in the early ‘60s – he was playing double bass and it was like working with an erupting volcano beside you. He was endlessly encouraging and gave me the determination to become a professional musician. But it was working with Jack on ‘Songs for a Tailor’ that had the greatest influence on me. His clarity of vision and determination to get exactly what he wanted out of his compositions was a real inspiration. I never forgot that experience. He was more than the most fantastic singer, player and composer. His restless spirit took him so far ahead, I suspect nobody has yet caught up. They probably never will.
Jon Hiseman

... Hard to begin
To get back in
You stay but it's never in only one piece
You got to find release

He runs away and plays
His laughter is just awoken
Tumbling down
The eyes of a clown
And truth sings today
Not far away
Hear it now

Childsong - Pete Brown / Jack Bruce / Tony Hymas



Zu seinem 70sten Geburtstag hatte ich darauf hingewiesen, das man Jack Bruce als Musiker und Komponisten nicht genug loben kann:
In Bruce's Stimme gab es so etwas wie überirdischen Trost.
... Diese Stimme! Sie klingt verwittert, ohne mutlos zu wirken. Sie ist hörbar von den Unbilden des Lebens gezeichnet und verströmt doch einen fast überirdischen Trost. Mal von einem betörenden Vibrato beseelt, dann wieder von jubelndem Falsett in traumatische Tiefen abstürzend. Diese Stimme besitzt dramatische Qualitäten wie kaum ein anderes Rock-Organ ...
Es gibt Momente, die wie ein fernes Echo von „White Room“ klingen...



Da kann man sehen, welch wunderbare Lieder Jack Bruce uns geschenkt hat - und weshalb die Würdigungen im Feuilleton, die nur Cream bemühen, so beschämend zu kurz greifen: Faszinierend die Lieder, die er über all die Jahre mit Pete Brown geschrieben hat: Folk Song(s) ...

Milonga - Jack Bruce mit der HR-Bigband (2006)

When I run my hand thro' your hair
There is never science or sin
It was the touch of your skin
That teaches my body to breathe


"Can You Follow?"

Hey can you follow,
Now that the trace is fainter in the sand
Try turning your face to the wall

Can you still read me
Now that the chase is wilder in your hand
Try losing your place in the sun

All the praises of the dream turned to tangles in the trees
All yesterday's fine chariots turned to buses in the street

Can you still hear me
Now that the songs are moving into night
Try sleeping with the dancers in your room

From the 1971 solo album "Harmony Row", meinem Lieblingsalbum: Words by Peter Brown, music by Jack Bruce.



+ We here at "Anorak Thing" are paying tribute to the late, great Jack Bruce by directing you all to go give a listen to his 1965 debut 45 on Polydor records.
+ Jack Bruce obituary - The Guardian, Sunday 26 October 2014
+ Jack Bruce – a life in pictures
+ Jack Bruce bei GBlog

Zugabe, einzigartig:
Here is probably the rarest Jack Bruce recording. All thanks goes to Hopboy for sharing this a few years ago! It’s pretty amazing this even still exists, as it even pre-dates the Graham Bond era. If you enjoy this, I also highly recommend the Bruce/Baker/Heckstall-Smith home recordings from the same era. These rehearsals have seldom been heard by anyone other than a small group of diehard Jack Bruce collectors.
Jack Bruce – Home Recordings (1962) bei ManyFantasticColors