Jack Bruce is best known to most people as having been the bassist and vocalist with Cream, the sixties supergroup that imploded after just two and a half years. His solo works are often just as rewarding in listening terms and throughout the decade following Cream’s demise, Bruce released a string of albums that not only helped cement his legendary status, but also show how much broader his talents could be beyond the power trio format. 1969’s ‘Songs For A Tailor’ is a fantastic mix of rock, blues and jazz that belongs in any collection; 1970’s ‘Things We Like’ more than demonstrates Bruce’s affinity with harder jazz influences and 1977’s much overlooked ‘How’s Tricks’ offers a fine collection of rock-oriented songs teaming Jack with drummer Simon Phillips and keyboard player Tony Hymas – both important fixtures in Jeff Beck’s band during the following decade.
Tag Archives: jazz fusion
GREENSLADE – Bedside Manners Are Extra
Greenslade’s self-titled debut from February 1973 introduced the world to an intricate world of double keyboard led prog, peppered with occasional elements of jazz fusion. It was by no means a perfect record – some of the tracks seemed over complicated for the sake of it and the production wasn’t as crisp as it could’ve been – but it gave the band something solid on which they could build, and just nine months later they returned with a follow-up. Released in the November, ‘Bedside Manners Are Extra’ is superior at almost every turn. Keyboard player/singer Dave Lawson mightn’t have the best voice in the world and occasionally the lack of guitar can be jarring, but the arrangements throughout the album are enough to make it stand up. Decades on, it’s easy to see how ‘Bedside Manners’ is a landmark recording for Dave Greenslade and really helped to make a name for the band in progressive rock fan circles.
Listen: New music from John Medeski’s Mad Skillet
Jazz legend – best known for being one third of the celebrated trio Medeski, Martin & Wood – will release a new album on November 9th.
The new record is said to be “a product of New Orleans” and takes in a variety of styles. A full press release can be read below. You can also listen to the pre-release track ‘Invincible Bubble’, a real tour de force of fusion, featuring fiery guitar work and storming organ solo.
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VARIOUS ARTISTS – Electric Gathering
When it comes to hard rock and metal guitar playing. there’s a fine line between melodic, harmonious workouts and empty, soulless fretboard bashing for the sake of it. For every player who understands the importance of filling several bars with succinct and thoughtful soloing, there are a thousand John Petrucci wannabes who think – oft like Dream Theater themselves – that notes and flash are a thousand times more impressive than actual tunes…and just because we can see them pulling orgasm faces while bending strings at lightning speeds, we’ll somehow feel the magic too. They’re wrong, of course.
MATS INGVARSSON – Hope
Bassist Mats Ingvarsson is somewhat of a fixture on the Swedish jazz scene. Over the course of several years he’s released a string of albums, sometimes as a member of Un-x-pected Pleasure, sometimes solo, but often via the specialist label Kopasetic Productions. His 2014 release ‘Hope’ enlists the talents of labelmate Maggi Olin on the grand piano and a pretty mean Fender Rhodes. Joining them, session drummer Daniel Fredrikssen and Magnus Lindberg ensure this is an impressive gathering.