Jack Bruce | |
|---|---|
 Bruce withCream onFanclub, 1968 | |
| Born | John Symon Asher Bruce (1943-05-14)14 May 1943 Bishopbriggs,Lanarkshire, Scotland |
| Died | 25 October 2014(2014-10-25) (aged 71) |
| Alma mater | Royal Conservatoire of Scotland |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1962–2014 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 5, includingNatascha |
| Parent(s) | Charlie Bruce, Betty Asher |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instruments |
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| Labels | |
| Formerly of | |
Musical artist | |
| Website | jackbruce |
John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish musician. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and bassist ofrock bandCream. After the group disbanded in 1968, he pursued a solo career and also played with several bands.
In the early 1960s, Bruce joinedthe Graham Bond Organisation (GBO), where he met future Cream bandmateGinger Baker. After leaving the band, he briefly joinedJohn Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, where he metEric Clapton. In 1966, after a short time withManfred Mann, he formed Cream with lead guitarist Clapton and drummer Baker. He co-wrote many of their songs (including "Sunshine of Your Love", "White Room" and "I Feel Free") with poet/lyricistPete Brown.
After the group disbanded in the late 1960s, he began recording solo albums. Bruce put together a band of his own to perform material live and formed the blues rock bandWest, Bruce and Laing in 1972, with ex-Mountain guitaristLeslie West and drummerCorky Laing. His solo career spanned several decades. From the 1970s to the 1990s he played with several bands as a touring member. He reunited with Cream in 2005 for concerts at theRoyal Albert Hall and atMadison Square Garden in New York.
Bruce is considered one of the most important and influential bassists of all time. Rolling Stone magazine readers ranked him number eight on their list of "10 Greatest Bassists of All Time".[2] He was inducted in theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993,[3] and was awarded theGrammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006,[4] both as a member of Cream.
Bruce was born on 14 May 1943 inBishopbriggs,Lanarkshire, Scotland, to Betty (née Asher) and Charlie Bruce,[5] musical parents who moved frequently, resulting in the young Bruce attending 14 different schools, ending up atBellahouston Academy. He began playingjazz bass in his teens and won a scholarship to study cello andmusical composition at theRoyal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama while playing in Jim McHarg's Scotsville Jazzband to support himself.[6]
Jack's playing in jazz combos was disapproved of by his school and he was forced to leave.[7] After leaving school, he toured Italy, playing double bass with the Murray Campbell Big Band.[8]
In 1962, Bruce became a member of the London-based bandBlues Incorporated,[9] led byAlexis Korner, in which he played theupright bass. The band also includedorganistGraham Bond, saxophonistDick Heckstall-Smith and drummerGinger Baker. In 1963 the group broke up.[6]
In March, 1963, Bruce played in theJohnny Burch Octet.[10][11][12] Bruce would go on to form theGraham Bond Quartet with Bond, Baker and guitaristJohn McLaughlin.[6] They played an eclectic range of music genres, includingbebop,blues andrhythm and blues. As a result ofsession work, Bruce switched from the upright bass to the electricbass guitar. The move to electric bass happened as McLaughlin left the band. He was replaced by Heckstall-Smith on saxophone, and the band pursued a more conciseR&B sound and changed their name tothe Graham Bond Organisation. The group released two studio albums and several singles but were not commercially successful.[citation needed]
During the time that Bruce and Baker played with the Graham Bond Organisation, they were known for their hostility towards each other. There were numerous stories of the two sabotaging each other's equipment and fighting on stage. Relations grew so bad between the two that Bruce left the band in August 1965.[13]
After leaving, Bruce recorded a solo single, "I'm Gettin Tired", forPolydor Records.[6] He joinedJohn Mayall and hisBluesbreakers band, which featured guitaristEric Clapton. Bruce's stay in the band was brief, and he did not contribute to any releases at the time, but recordings featuring him were later released, initially onLooking Back andPrimal Solos.[citation needed]
After the Bluesbreakers, Bruce had his first commercial success as a member ofManfred Mann in 1966, including "Pretty Flamingo", which reached number one in theUK singles chart (one of two number one records of his career – the other being an uncredited bass part onThe Scaffold's "Lily the Pink")[6] as well as the freewheeling and groundbreakingjazz rock ofInstrumental Asylum. When interviewed on the edition of theVH1 showClassic Albums which featuredDisraeli Gears, Mayall said that Bruce had been lured away by the lucrative commercial success of Manfred Mann, while Mann himself recalled that Bruce played his first gig with the band without any rehearsal, playing the songs straight through without error, commenting that perhaps thechord changes seemed obvious to Bruce.[14]
While with Manfred Mann, Bruce again collaborated with Clapton as a member ofPowerhouse, which also featuredSpencer Davis Group membersSteve Winwood credited as "Steve Anglo", on vocals andPete York on drums (Apparently,Ginger Baker was originally to have played the session), Ben Palmer on piano,[15] andManfred Mann vocalistPaul Jones on harmonica. Three tracks were featured on theElektra sampler albumWhat's Shakin'. Two of the songs, "Crossroads" and "Steppin' Out", became staples in the live set of his next band, Cream.
In July 1966, Bruce,Eric Clapton andGinger Baker founded thepower trio Cream, which gained international recognition playingblues-rock andjazz-inflected rock music. Bruce either penned or co-penned the majority of the band's tunes and sang most of the lead vocals, with Clapton backing him up and eventually assuming some leads himself.[14]
With hisGibson EB-3 orFender VI electric basses, Bruce became one of the most famous bassists in rock, winning musicians' polls and influencing the next generation of bassists such asSting,Jim Shaw,Geddy Lee,Geezer Butler andJeff Berlin.[16] Bruce co-wrote most of Cream's single releases with lyricistPete Brown, including the hits "Sunshine of Your Love", "White Room" and "I Feel Free". Cream broke up in 1968.[17]
Collaborative efforts with musicians, in many genres –hard rock,jazz,blues,R&B,fusion,avant-garde,world music,third stream classical – continued as a theme of Bruce's career. Alongside these he produced a long line of highly regarded solo albums. In contrast to his collaborative works, the solo albums usually maintain a common theme: melodic songs with a complex musical structure, songs with lyrics frequently penned by Pete Brown and a core band of world-class musicians. This structure was loosened on his live solo albums and DVDs, where extended improvisations similar to those employed by Cream in live performance were sometimes still used.
In August 1968, before Cream officially disbanded, Bruce recorded a semi-acousticfree jazz album withJohn McLaughlin,Dick Heckstall-Smith andJon Hiseman.[6] This was issued in 1970 as Bruce's second solo album,Things We Like. The album was a precursor to thejazz fusion boom in the early 1970s.
Bruce's first solo release,Songs for a Tailor, was issued in September 1969; it too featured Heckstall-Smith and Hiseman.[6] It was a worldwide hit and also showcased Jack's ability as a gifted pianist, but after a brief supporting tour backed byLarry Coryell andMitch Mitchell, Bruce joined thejazz fusion groupLifetime, with drummerTony Williams, guitarist McLaughlin, and organistLarry Young, for its second album,Turn It Over (1970). For the group's third album,Ego (1971),Ron Carter replaced Bruce on bass, but Bruce contributed a guest vocal. Bruce then recorded his third solo albumHarmony Row, but this was not as commercially successful asSongs for a Tailor.[6] The song "The Consul at Sunset" fromHarmony Row, which was inspired by theMalcolm Lowry novelUnder the Volcano, was released as a single in 1971 (Polydor 2058–153, b/w "A Letter of Thanks"), but did not chart.
In 1972 Bruce formed ablues rockpower trio,West, Bruce & Laing. Besides Bruce, the group included singer/guitaristLeslie West and drummerCorky Laing, both formerly of the Cream-influenced American bandMountain. West, Bruce & Laing produced two studio albums,Why Dontcha andWhatever Turns You On, and one live album,Live 'n' Kickin'.
The band's breakup was announced shortly beforeLive 'n' Kickin's release in early 1974, and Bruce released his fourth solo albumOut of the Storm later that year. Also in 1974 he featured on the title track ofFrank Zappa's albumApostrophe ('), recorded in November 1972. Bruce was credited with bass and co-authorship on the improvised track. When asked about Zappa in a 1992 interview, Bruce tried to change the subject and jokingly insisted that he had played only cello parts. Outtakes from the session were released on the archival releaseThe Crux Of The Biscuit in 2016. In 1973 Bruce recorded bass guitar forLou Reed'sBerlin album, playing on all but two tracks.
A 1975 tour was lined up to support theOut of the Storm album with a band featuring formerRolling Stones guitaristMick Taylor andjazz keyboard playerCarla Bley, with whom he had collaborated in 1971 onEscalator over the Hill. The tour was belatedly documented onLive at Manchester Free Trade Hall '75 (2003),[18] but it ended with Taylor's departure, and sessions for a studio album were abandoned. During the next year, Bruce only resurfaced to play onCharlie Mariano'sHelen 12 Trees album.
In 1976, Bruce formed a new band (The Jack Bruce Band) with drummerSimon Phillips and keyboardistTony Hymas. The group recorded an album, calledHow's Tricks. A world tour followed, but the album was a commercial failure.[6] The follow-up album,Jet Set Jewel, was rejected at the time by Bruce's record labelRSO as not being marketable, and RSO ultimately dropped Bruce from their roster. In 1979 he toured with members from theMahavishnu Orchestra, reuniting him with John McLaughlin, and introducing him to drummerBilly Cobham. A 3-CD collection of his 1970sBBC recordings, entitledSpirit, was released in 2008.
In the late 1970s, Bruce also joined up to play with friends from his Alexis Korner days inRocket 88, the back-to-the-roots band thatIan Stewart had arranged, and Bruce appears onthe album of the same name, recorded live in Germany in 1979 and released in 1981.[19] They also recorded a "live in the studio" album calledBlues & Boogie Explosion for the Germanaudiophile record label Jeton.[citation needed]
By 1979, Bruce's drug habit had reached such a level that he had lost most of his money. Bruce contributed as asession musician to recordings byCozy Powell,Gary Moore andJon Anderson to raise money. By 1980 his career was back on track with his new band, Jack Bruce & Friends, consisting of drummerBilly Cobham, guitaristClem Clempson and keyboardist/guitaristDavid Sancious. After releasing an album,I've Always Wanted to Do This, at the end of 1980, they undertook a long tour to support the record, but it was not a commercial success and they disbanded. That year he also collaborated on theSoft Machine albumLand of Cockayne (released in 1981).
In 1981, Bruce collaborated with guitaristRobin Trower and released twopower trio albums,B.L.T. andTruce, the first of which was a minor hit in the US.[6] He also played forTrevor Rabin on the albumWolf. By 1983, Bruce was no longer contracted to a major record company and released his next solo album,Automatic, on a minor German label, Intercord. A European tour followed to promote the album enlistingBruce Gary fromThe Knack (who had also played in Bruce's 1975 band) on drums and Sancious from his 1980 band (Jack Bruce & Friends) on guitar and keyboards. In 1982, Bruce played with a short-lived ensembleA Gathering of Minds, composed of Billy Cobham,Allan Holdsworth,Didier Lockwood and David Sancious atMontreux. In 1983, Bruce sang on tracks 5 and 6 of the Allan Holdsworth albumRoad Games.
In 1983, Bruce began working with theLatin/world music producerKip Hanrahan, and released the collaborative albumsDesire Develops an Edge,Vertical's Currency,A Few Short Notes from the End Run,Exotica andAll Roads Are Made of the Flesh. They were all critically successful, and in 2001 he went on to form his own band using Hanrahan's famous Afro-Cuban based rhythm section. Other than his partnership withlyricist Pete Brown, Bruce's musical relationship with Hanrahan was the most consistent and long-lasting of his career.
In 1985, he sang lead and playedblues harp on the song "Silver Bullet" withAnton Fier'sGolden Palominos. It appears on the albumVisions of Excess. In 1986 he re-recorded the Cream song "I Feel Free" and released it as a single to support an advertising campaign for theRenault 21 motor car.
In 1989, Bruce secured his first major record deal in a decade, withEpic, and recordedA Question of Time. This included two tracks withGinger Baker on drums, their first collaboration since Cream.[6] Baker then joined Bruce's live band and toured the United States at the turn of the decade.
Bruce played at theMontreux Jazz Festival in 1990, and was invited by the Irishblues rock performerRory Gallagher (who had a long-standing relationship with Bruce, having supported Cream's farewell concert in the bandTaste in 1968) to perform a couple of songs together on stage. In 1991 he was one of the supporting musicians forVivian Stanshall's solo show "Rawlinson Dog-ends", but quit over a lack of adequate rehearsals.[20]
On April 25, 1991, Bruce performed withUli Jon Roth,Simon Phillips,Randy Hansen,John Wetton,Zeno Roth, and others at E-Werk in Cologne, Germany. This performance featured a tribute toJimi Hendrix, and a concert video of 22 tracks was released on Laserdisc in 1994 as "The Spirit of Jimi Hendrix Live in Concert" in Japan.
In 1993, a solo album,Somethin Els, reunited him with Eric Clapton and brought belated, but widespread, critical acclaim.[21]
Later that year, Ginger Baker and a host of former Bruce band colleagues joined him for two special 50th birthdays concerts in Cologne, Germany, hosted by the TV showRockpalast. Selections from these were released as the live double CDCities of the Heart, and much later as the DVD setRockpalast: The 50th Birthdays Concerts. One special guest was the Irish blues-rock guitaristGary Moore, who joined Bruce and Baker for a set of Cream classics. Inspired by this performance, the three formed the power trioBBM and their subsequent (and only) album,Around the Next Dream, was a top ten hit in the UK.[6] However, the old arguments between Bruce and Baker arose again, and the subsequent tour was cut short and the band broke up. A low-key solo album,Monkjack, followed in 1995, featuring Bruce on piano and vocals, accompanied only by the FunkadelicorganistBernie Worrell.
Bruce then began work producing and arranging the soundtrack to the independently produced Scottish filmThe Slab Boys, with;Lulu,Edwyn Collins,Eddi Reader andthe Proclaimers. The soundtrack album appeared in 1997. In 1997 he returned to touring as a member ofRingo Starr'sAll-Starr Band, which also featuredPeter Frampton on guitar. At the gig in Denver, Colorado, the band was joined onstage by Ginger Baker, and Bruce, Baker and Frampton played a short set of Cream classics. Bruce continued to tour with Starr through 2000.
In 2001, Bruce reappeared with a band featuringBernie Worrell,Vernon Reid ofLiving Colour on guitar, and fromKip Hanrahan's group,Robby Ameen andHoracio "el Negro" Hernandez on drums, and Richie Flores on congas. Hanrahan also produced the accompanying albumShadows in the Air, which included a reunion with Eric Clapton on new versions of the Cream classics "Sunshine of Your Love" and "White Room". The band released another Hanrahan produced studio album,More Jack than God, in 2003, and a live DVD,Live at the Canterbury Fayre.
Bruce had suffered a period of declining health, after many years of addictions which he finally beat with clinical treatment, and in 2003 was diagnosed withliver cancer.[22] In September 2003, he underwent aliver transplant, which was almost fatal, as his body initially rejected the new organ.[23] He recovered, and in 2004 re-appeared to perform "Sunshine of Your Love" at a Rock Legends concert in Germany organised byLeslie Mandoki.
In May 2005, he reunited with former Cream bandmates Clapton and Baker for a series of well-received concerts at London'sRoyal Albert Hall,[24] released as the albumRoyal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005, and New York'sMadison Square Garden.
In between the UK and U.S. Cream dates, he also played live withGary Moore and drummerGary Husband at theDick Heckstall-Smith tribute concert in London.
Subsequent concert appearances by Bruce were sparse because of recovery after the transplant, but in 2006 he returned to the live arena with a show of Cream and solo classics performed with the German HR (Hessischer Rundfunk) Big Band. This was released on CD in Germany in 2007. In 2007, he made a brief concert appearance, opening a new rehearsal hall named in his honour at theRoyal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow withClem Clempson, keyboard playerRonnie Leahy and Husband.
In 2008, Bruce collaborated again with guitaristRobin Trower on the albumSeven Moons. It also featured Husband.
In May 2008, Bruce was 65 years old and to commemorate this milestone two box sets of recordings were released.Spirit is a three-CD collection of Bruce's BBC recordings from the 1970s.Can You Follow? is a six-CD retrospective anthology released by the Esoteric label in the UK. This anthology is a wide-ranging collection covering his music from 1963 to 2003 and, aside from his work with Kip Hanrahan, is a comprehensive overview of his career.
Improved health led to Bruce playing a series of live outdoor concerts across the US starting in July 2008 as part of the Hippiefest Tour. He was supported by members of the lateWho bassistJohn Entwistle's the John Entwistle Band, and headlined at a tribute concert to the bassist.
In November 2008, he recorded a concert inBirmingham, England for Radio Broadcast with the BBC Big Band, where he again played the Big Band arrangements of his classic songs. In December he was reunited with Ginger Baker at the drummer's Lifetime Achievement Award concert in London. They played jazz classics with saxophonistCourtney Pine and for the first time in 40 years played the Graham Bond–Cream classic "Traintime".
The same month, Bruce, with guitaristVernon Reid, drummerCindy Blackman and organistJohn Medeski played a series ofBlue Note Club tribute concerts tothe Tony Williams Lifetime in Japan. These shows were broadcast in high definition on television in Japan.
In 2009, Bruce performed in a series of concerts with Trower and Husband in Europe. Proposed dates in the U.S. in April were cancelled because of a further bout of ill health. Bruce recovered and the band played summer concerts in Italy, Norway and the UK during 2009. This promoted the release of theSeven Moons live CD and DVD, recorded in February during the European leg of the tour inNijmegen, Netherlands.
During the Scottish dates of the 2009 tour Bruce was presented with anHonorary Doctorate of Letters fromGlasgow Caledonian University for services to the culture ofGlasgow and music in general.
In August 2009, the 1983 Bruce solo albumAutomatic was re-released, making his entire solo catalogue available on CD. In addition, all of the discs up to and includingHow's Tricks contain previously unreleased material.
In October 2009, Bruce performed at the 50th anniversary ofRonnie Scott's Club with the Ronnie Scott's Blues Band.
Jack Bruce – Composing Himself: The Authorized Biography byHarry Shapiro was released by Jawbone Press in February 2010. Shapiro had previously written biographies of Bruce collaborators Alexis Korner, Graham Bond and Eric Clapton. The book followed memoirs from his Cream bandmates Clapton (Clapton, 2007) and Baker (Hellraiser, 2009). His songwriting partner, Pete Brown's, biographyWhite Rooms & Imaginary Westerns was published in September 2010. They each have differing recollections of forming Cream, playing and writing together.
On 14 January, at the 2011 North American Music Merchants Show, Bruce became only the third recipient of the International Bassist Award, a lifetime achievement award for bassists, afterJaco Pastorius andNathan Watts.
His first independent CD release,Live at the Milky Way, Amsterdam 2001, featuring The Cuicoland Express, hisLatin-based band of the time, was issued in October 2010. The double album received an official worldwide release, distributed by EMI in February 2011. To support this release Bruce again played four dates in London at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club with the Ronnie Scott's Blues Experience, followed by a further ten dates across the UK with the band. On 4 June 2011, Bruce played a special concert at theRoyal Festival Hall in London, which was celebrating its 60th anniversary. The evening celebrated the 50th anniversary of theblues in Great Britain, and Bruce played with his Big Blues Band and special guestJoe Bonamassa.
Bruce started 2012 playing theGerry Rafferty tribute concert in Glasgow, followed by a date with the traditional Celtic bandLau.BBC Scotland recorded a one-hour special on Bruce, which also included a performance with Lau. The completed documentaryJack Bruce – The Man Behind the Bass was transmitted in February 2012 by BBC Scotland. It featured new interviews with Bruce, Clapton, Baker and Brown. It was transmitted again on 9 November 2014 on BBC2 Scotland and on 17 November 2014 on BBC4 in the UK.[25]
February 2012 saw Bruce playing inHavana, Cuba, along with guitaristPhil Manzanera, supporting the mambo band of Augusto Enriquez. March saw another residency at Ronnie Scott's in London supported by his Big Blues Band, followed by a UK tour. The concert at the Stables, Milton Keynes on 18 March was due to be recorded as an Instant Live CD release, but technical issues prevented this. The following evenings' performance at the same location was recorded and a 2CD version issued by Instant Live.
Spectrum Road, a collaboration withVernon Reid,Cindy Blackman andJohn Medeski in tribute toThe Tony Williams Lifetime, was released in June 2012 by the US jazz record labelPalmetto Records[26] and was accompanied by a series of dates at large jazz festivals in North America and Europe throughout June and July.
In March 2014, Bruce releasedSilver Rails on theEsoteric Antenna label, his first solo studio album in over a decade.[27]Silver Rails was recorded atAbbey Road Studios in London, produced and mixed by Rob Cass and features contributions from Cream lyricist,Pete Brown,Kip Hanrahan and wife Margrit Seyffer as well as musiciansRobin Trower,Cindy Blackman,Phil Manzanera,Uli Jon Roth,John Medeski andBernie Marsden.[28] The deluxe version of the album featured a behind the scenes documentary "The Making of Silver Rails" which was filmed on location at the studios and directed by Bruce's daughter Kyla Simone Bruce.[29] Bruce's son Malcolm Bruce pre-produced the album and played guitar on several tracks, while Bruce's daughterAruba Red was featured on "Hidden Cities" singing backing vocals.
In addition to his primary instruments, Bruce is known to have played the following instruments during his career:
Bruce's complex, jazz-influenced playing established him as one of the foremost bassists in rock music. During his time with Cream, he developed his signature style and began to make use ofstring bending andbass distortion to stand out in the band, becoming prominently associated with theGibson EB-3 andMarshall Amplification. Later, he switched to fretless Warwick basses and developed a cleaner sound utilizing Hartke amplifiers.[34] Uniquely amongst his contemporaries, Bruce was primarily a fingerstyle player, in contrast to other bassists likeJohn Entwistle orNoel Redding who mainly relied on using a pick.
Chief among his influences, he has namedJ.S. Bach,Ray Brown,Charles Mingus,Scott LaFaro,Charlie Haden,Roy Babbington, andJames Jamerson.[35][36]
In 1964, Bruce marriedJanet Godfrey, who had been the secretary of the Graham Bond Organisation fan club and had collaborated with Bruce on two songs written for the band.[8] The couple had two sons together, Jonas (Jo) Bruce, who grew up to play keyboards in his father's band and played withAfro Celt Sound System, and Malcolm Bruce, who grew up to play the guitar with his father and played with Ginger Baker's son, Kofi. Jonas died in 1997 from respiratory problems.[37]
In 1982, he married his second wife, Margrit Seyffer,[38] with whom he had two daughters, Natascha, known professionally asAruba Red and Kyla, and a son, Corin.[39][40]
Bruce died ofliver disease on 25 October 2014, inSudbury, Suffolk, England, aged 71.[37][41] He was survived by his wife Margrit and four children.[37] Bruce's liver cancer was caused by cross addiction to bothheroin andalcohol.[42]
His funeral was held in London on 5 November 2014 and was attended by Clapton, Baker and noted musiciansPhil Manzanera,Gary Brooker,Vernon Reid andNitin Sawhney among others. Dozens assembled at theGolders Green Crematorium paying a last tribute singing "Morning Has Broken", "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Theme for an Imaginary Western". Bruce's remains were later cremated[43] and then interred at a private family ceremony on 31 December 2014 at the crematorium.[44]
Steve Anderson, writing inThe Independent said: "he became one of the most famous and influential bass players in rock."[45]Eric Clapton posted onFacebook about Bruce: "He was a great musician and composer, and a tremendous inspiration to me" and composed an acoustic song in his honour.[46]
Black Sabbath guitaristTony Iommi said onTwitter that Bruce had been his favourite bass player, saying "He was a hero to so many" and Black Sabbath bassistGeezer Butler regarded him as his "biggest influence and favourite bass player".[47]Rush bassist and singerGeddy Lee wrote: "One of the greatest rock bassists to ever live and a true and profound inspiration to countless musicians. He was one of my first bass heroes and was a major influence on my playing and my music."[48]
Writing inThe Sunday Times in 2008, Dan Cairns had suggested: "many consider him to be one of the greatest bass players of all time."[49] Writing inThe Daily Telegraph, Neil McCormick said, "There was a time when Jack Bruce was synonymous with the bass guitar in rock history, when he was widely revered as the best there was on four strings."[50]Roger Waters ofPink Floyd described Bruce as "probably the most musically gifted bass player who's ever been."[37]
| Date | Title | Charts | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [54] | CA [55] | UK [56] | |||
| August 1969 | Songs for a Tailor | 55 | 70 | 6 | |
| December 1970 | Things We Like | — | — | — | Recorded August 1968 |
| August 1971 | Harmony Row | — | — | — | |
| November 1974 | Out of the Storm | 160 | — | — | |
| March 1977 | How's Tricks | 153 | — | — | |
| December 1980 | I've Always Wanted to Do This | — | — | — | |
| January 1983 | Automatic | — | — | — | |
| October 1989 | A Question of Time | — | — | — | |
| March 1993 | Somethin Els | — | — | — | |
| September 1995 | Monkjack | — | — | — | |
| July 2001 | Shadows in the Air | — | — | — | |
| May 2003 | Jet Set Jewel | — | — | — | Recorded 1978 |
| September 2003 | More Jack than God | — | — | — | |
| March 2014 | Silver Rails | — | — | — | |
| Recorded | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1971–1978 | Spirit (Live at theBBC 1971–1978) | Triple CD box set, omits 1980 shows, released 2008 |
| 1 June 1975 | Live at Manchester Free Trade Hall '75 | Double CD, released 2003 |
| 6 June 1975, 8 January 1980 | Live onThe Old Grey Whistle Test | Mono, 1975 show incomplete, includes 1980 show, released 1998 |
| 20 November 1980 | Doing This ... On Ice! | Also released asConcert Classics Vol.9,Bird Alone,(A)live in America, etc. |
| 2–3 November 1993 | Cities of the Heart | Double CD of the 50th Birthday Concerts, released 1994 |
| 20 October 2001 | Jack Bruce & The Cuicoland Express: Live at theMilky Way | Double CD, released 2010 |
| 26 October 2006 | Live with theHR Big Band | Re-released in 2015 with DVD asMore Jack Than Blues |
| 18 March 2012 | Jack Bruce & His Big Blues Band – Live 2012 | Double CD, released 2012 |
| Date | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | At His Best | Double LP |
| 1989 | Willpower: A Twenty Year Retrospective | CD, double LP |
| May 2008 | Can You Follow? | 6-CD box set |
| October 2015 | Sunshine Of Your Love – A Life In Music | Double CD |
| Filmed | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Rope Ladder To The Moon | Documentary directed byTony Palmer, 55 minutes, released 2010[57] |
| 19 October 1980 | Jack Bruce and Friends In Concert | Live onRockpalast, 105 minutes, released 2002 |
| 1980, 1983, 1990 | Jack Bruce at Rockpalast | Double DVD, 3 concerts, 283 minutes, released 2005 |
| 2–3 November 1993 | Rockpalast: The 50th Birthday Concerts | Double DVD + CD (The Lost Tracks), 235 minutes, released 2014[58] |
| 24 August 2002 | Live at the Canterbury Fayre | With The Cuicoland Express, 76 minutes, released 2003 |
| 26 October 2006 | More Jack Than Blues | With theHR Big Band, 83 minutes, released 2015 |
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