| Jack Bruce & Robin Trower |
| Seven Moons |
Jack Bruce & Robin Trower — Seven Moons
♦♦ When Jack Bruce apologizes at the end of the show, saying “us old guys, we get it right eventually,” it's perceived as a moment of levity by the audience...after all, these guys have seldom gotten it wrong, and what they accomplish with these fourteen songs is a brilliant fusion of electric blues and hard rock, delivering a breathtaking showcase of instrumental virtuosity that will entertain any viewer that enjoys guitar-driven blues–rock performances.
♦♦ Bruce released new studio album Silver Rails in March 2014 on the Esoteric Antenna, his first solo studio album in over a decade. "Silver Rails" was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London and features contributions from Cream (band) lyricists Pete Brown, Kip Hanrahan and wife Margrit Seyffer as well as musicians Robin Trower, Cindy Blackman, Phil Manzanera, Uli Jon Roth, John Medeski and Bernie Marsden. The deluxe version of the album featured a behind the scenes documentary "The Making of Silver Rails" which was filmed on location at Abbey Road Studios and directed by Bruce's daughter Kyla Simone Bruce. Bruce's son Malcolm Bruce pre–produced the album and plays guitar on several tracks and Bruce's daughter Aruba Red features on 'Hidden Cities' singing backing vocals.
♦♦ “I thought it was going to be really hard to come up with songs that worked and that I like, but it turned out to be very, very natural and I just found it was so easy to write,” Bruce says. “I used Songs For a Tailor as a template and I kind of listened to that and I based the kind of atmosphere and the feeling of the songs on Silver Rails on that, so it’s kind of a bookends, if you like.”
♦♦ Natascha: My name is Natascha and I am Jack Bruce’s daughter, you may also know me as Aruba Red. In 2001 my Dad recorded an incredible live performance at the Melkweg (Milkyway) in Amsterdam with his amazing band Cuicoland Express. This recording has never been released, something that I am determined to change because I believe that all the lovers of my father’s music deserve to hear this recording. The musicianship and clarity is beautiful and Jack’s voice and playing on this record simply needs to be heard.
♦♦ Hudební průmysl se rychle mění, a ačkoli pro mnoho tradičních platforem je to náročné, tyto změny také otevírají několik opravdu zajímavých příležitostí, s kterými se chci s vámi podělit. Namísto uvolnění tohoto záznamu prostřednictvím nahrávací společnosti, Jack se nejprve rozhodl, že by rád, aby se přímo týkaly vás, fanoušků a příznivce jeho hudby, takže můžete dostat svých rukou koncert dříve, než kdokoliv jiný.
Birth name: Robin Leonard Trower
Born: 9 March 1945, Catford, South East London England, United Kingdom
Notable instruments:
♦♦ Signature Model Stratocaster
Birth name: John Symon Asher Bruce
Born: 14 May 1943, Bishopbriggs, Lanarkshire, Scotland / Died: Oct. 25. 2014, Suffolk, England
Instruments: Vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards, harmonica, cello
Notable instruments:
♦♦ Fender Bass VI
♦♦ Danelectro Longhorn
♦♦ Gibson EB-3
♦♦ Gibson EB-1
♦♦ Warwick Thumb Signature
♦♦ Warwick Jack Bruce CRB
Location: London, UK
Album release: January 1, 2008/October 13th, 2009
Record Label: V–12 Records/Ruf Records
Duration: 47:59
Tracks:
01 Seven Moons 4:40
02 Lives of Clay 5:02
03 Distant Places of the Heart 5:24
04 She's Not the One 2:55
05 So Far to Yesterday 3:33
06 Just Another Day* 5:29
07 Pefect Place 3:47
08 The Last Door 5:08
09 Bad Case of Celebrity 4:05
10 Come to Me 4:44
11 I'm Home 3:12
℗© 2007, 2011 V12 records Inc.
• Gray marble colored vinyl
• Included free download card
♦♦ All tracks written by Jack Bruce / Robin Trower except Just Another Day, Bruce*, Watts*, Trower*
Featuring
♦♦ Jack Bruce (vocals, bass guitar);
♦♦ Robin Trower (guitars, vocals);
♦♦ Gary Husband (drums).
♦♦ Recorded at Intimate Studios.
♦♦ Engineered by Paul Madden.
♦♦ Mixed at Lukeroom Studio by Marc DeSisto.
♦♦ Mastered at The Mastering Lab by James Hadley.
♦♦ Erich "Hypsta" Krause Graphic Design
Product Description
♦♦ Two legends, one hour of fearsome axe–wielding! They do virtually the entire Seven Moons album plus signature tunes from Bruce's famous catalog, all filmed at the majestic Concertgebouw De Vereeniging in the Netherlands in 5.1 Surround Sound. Tracks include Lives Of Clay; Perfect Place; White Room; Politician and more!
Review by Hal Horowitz; Score: ***½
♦♦ Jack Bruce must have enjoyed his 2005 get–together with Cream so much that, when Clapton and Baker were unwilling to continue the collaboration, he rang up Robin Trower to renew the brief power trio fling they had in the mid–'80s. The Trower–Bruce pairing had released only two albums, B.L.T. and Truce, and was dormant since 1982, so this 2007 reunion was somewhat of a continuation of the project, albeit one separated by a quarter century. The results impressively continue where Truce left off, as Bruce brings his distinctive croon/moan to bluesy, riff–oriented tunes dominated by Trower's silvery guitar runs. Gary Husband fills the drum slot adequately if inconspicuously, but his contributions are mixed so far under Bruce's vocals and Trower's guitar that they are secondary. The previous two releases called in Trower's old Procol Harum lyricist Keith Reid and Bruce collaborator Peter Brown to write the words, but Bruce and Trower pen these 11 songs without outside assistance. Most tunes such as "Lives of Clay," a barely concealed rewrite of Cream's "Politician" lick, revisit familiar territory, and clearly these guys are not out to expand any boundaries. Bruce, who has had serious medical problems since they last recorded, sounds terrific — strong and vibrant, even if a few tunes such as the minor–key ballad "I'm Home" seem somewhat clunky. This disc's "So Far to Yesterday" recalls Trower's "Twice Removed from Yesterday" both in its title and general mood. The yin/yang pairing keeps Bruce's more oblique jazz influences in check and does the same for Trower's space rock instincts, yielding a throwback that fans of both artists' previous work should enjoy. Trower's patented Hendrix–styled guitar adds a psychedelic edge to songs that generally stick to a midtempo lope and never blast out with Cream's insistent power, which can be somewhat frustrating to anyone who would like to hear these guys let loose. Still, there are enough strong moments on Seven Moons to recommend it, especially to those who enjoyed the duo's previous work 25 years ago.
JACK BRUCE.
♦♦ The composer, the singer, the multi–instrumentalist, the Legend. Hailed as one of the most powerful vocalists and greatest bassists of his time, his improvisational skill and utterly unique, free–spirited approach to composition and performance would forever change electric music. His pioneering, full–toned, free–wheeling playing on the electric bass revolutionised the way the instrument is used and influenced the playing of countless bassists to today, including Sting and Jaco Pastorius. His work with bands such as Cream and the Tony Williams Lifetime, as well as his solo material, unlocked the doors to the pent–up energy of a new approach to the art of sound, breaking the barriers of tradition and creating a kind of music that had never been heard. Jack was born to musical parents in the shipbuilding city of Glasgow, Scotland on 14 May 1943. ♦♦ His parents travelled extensively in Canada and the U.S.A. Jack attended 14 different schools, finishing his formal education at Bellahouston Academy and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, to which he won a scholarship for cello and composition. He left the Academy and his homeland at the age of 16, because of poverty and discouraged by his professors' lack of interest in his ideas.
♦♦ Jack travelled to Italy and then England, playing double–bass in dance bands and jazz groups, and joined his first important band in 1962 in London. This was Alexis Korner's Blues Inc. with whom Charlie Watts, later to join the Rolling Stones, was their drummer. Jack left Alexis in 1963 to form a group with organist Graham Bond, guitarist John McLaughlin and drummer Ginger Baker. This group became the seminal Graham Bond Organisation after John left, and saxophonist Dick Heckstall–Smith joined. Jack was compelled to leave this band after three years by Ginger Baker, who said his playing was "too busy"! Jack had to turn down Marvin Gaye's offer to join his U.S.–based band because of his impending first marriage. He then joined John Mayall's Blues Breakers, where he first met Eric Clapton, followed by Manfred Mann in an ill–advised attempt at commercialism. It was Ginger Baker who initially asked Jack to form a trio with Eric Clapton. Eric insisted that Jack would be the singer.
♦♦ Cream went on to sell 35,000,000 albums in just over two years and was awarded the first ever platinum disc for Wheels of Fire. Jack wrote and sang most of the songs, including "I Feel Free", "White Room", "Politician" and perhaps the world's most performed guitar riff, in "Sunshine Of Your Love". Cream split in November 1968 at the height of their popularity; Jack felt that he had strayed too far from his ideals and wanted to re–discover his musical and social roots. He began recording solo albums; the first being his influential Songs For A Tailor and thereafter commenced his policy of playing simultaneously in rock, jazz and classical formats, attempting to realise his personal and unique style of performance and recording which is an amalgam of these three plus the influence of other important world and ethnic music.
♦♦ Around this time, during the American tour of the first of Jack's own bands (this one featuring guitarist Larry Coryell and Jimi Hendrix's drummer Mitch Mitchell), Jack was introduced to Tony Williams by John McLaughlin. He soon joined Tony's Lifetime, along with John and the late, great Larry Young; an experience he describes as "the musical time of my life". Frustrated by the breakup of Lifetime and greatly saddened by Hendrix's tragic death (Tony and Jack had been talking to Jimi about forming a "dream" band together), Jack found solace in returning to his heavy roots with the formation of West Bruce and Laing with Leslie West and Corky Laing.
Since then, Jack has fronted many of his own bands (featuring, amongst others, such side people as Carla Bley, Mick Taylor, Simon Phillips, Tony Hymas, Billy Cobham, David Sancious and Gary Moore), recording numerous solo albums as well as collaborating on special projects with artists like Carla Bley (Escalator Over The Hill) and Kip Hanrahan (Desire Develops An Edge). He has also worked as session man on carefully chosen dates with the likes of Lou Reed (Berlin) and Frank Zappa, with whom Jack co–wrote Apostrophe, which became Frank's biggest selling album.
♦♦ In 1991 Jack performed in Vienna in a new, specially commissioned work with Michael Mantler and Mike Gibbs, accompanied by the Niederoesterreichischen Tonkuenstler Symphony Orchestra. He also completed a successful tour of ten European capitals with his thirteen–piece Latin/Jazz/Rock fusion orchestra. Throughout the early 1990s he increased his knowledge of World music, his two solo albums A Question of Time (Epic/Sony) and Somethin Els (CMP) stating the new direction towards which his music would evolve.
♦♦ At the Guitar Legends festival in Seville, in 1992, Jack enjoyed playing with Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Steve Cropper and many other friends.
♦♦ The year 1993 was special, starting with Jack's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Cream, and ending with an inspired fiftieth birthday concert which featured many of his old friends including Dick Heckstall–Smith, Maggie Reilly and Gary Moore. This event which was recorded and released as a CD box set entitled Cities of the Heart (CMP) led to Jack forming BBM with Gary Moore and Ginger Baker and subsequently releasing the top-ten album Around the Next Dream (Virgin).
♦♦ In 1995, Jack concentrated on his keyboard playing and recorded a set of piano solos and duos with organist Bernie Worrell, who played previously with George Clinton, Funkadelic and Talking Heads. The release of the recording, entitled Monkjack, represented a new departure for Jack. He was delighted to have been invited to present this material at the Edinburgh Festival and the Queen Elizabeth Hall in September of that year.
♦♦ In Copenhagen in the autumn of 1996, Jack took part in the first performances of Michael Mantler's School of Understanding, which has been described by Michael as a "sort–of–an–opera". There were further performances in Berlin early in 1998.
During the late 1990s, Jack toured with several iterations of Ringo Starr's All Star Band, along with guitarists Peter Frampton, Todd Rundgren and Dave Edmunds, keyboardists Gary Brooker and Eric Carmen, drummer Simon Kirke, and horn player Mark Rivera.
♦♦ In 1999 and 2000 Jack returned to the studio with co-producer Kip Hanrahan to record his solo CD, Shadows in the Air, which hit #5 on the UK Jazz & Blues Chart following its 2001 release by Sanctuary Records. The album's cast featured a pantheon of musical guests, including Eric Clapton, Dr John, Gary Moore, Vernon Reid and Changuito Luis Quintana. Jack's supporting 2001–2002 world tour included the talents of Vernon Reid, Bernie Worrell, Robby Ameen, El Negro Horacio Hernandez, and Richie Flores, known collectively as Jack Bruce & The Cuicoland Express.
♦♦ In 2002 Jack participated in a summer tour with A Walk Down Abbey Road, a tribute to The Beatles featuring Alan Parsons, Todd Rundgren, Mark Farner, Christopher Cross, Godfrey Townsend, John Beck and Steve Murphy. In November, Jack joined Uli Jon Roth, Glenn Hughes and Michael Schenker for the Legends of Rock tour.
♦♦ The year 2003 saw the release of Jack's second album on Sanctuary Records, More Jack Than God. Like its predecessor Shadows in the Air, the album was co-produced by Kip Hanrahan. Among the musicians is the core band from Shadows in the Air, Godfrey Townsend, and Jack's son, Malcolm Bruce. More Jack Than God blends a diverse range of musical styles from classic, Willie Dixon inspired blues, to hints of the Latin and World music flavours that Bruce and Hanrahan explored through the 1980s and 1990s, to the subtle and gentle beauty that reflect Jack's growing introspective approach to songwriting.
♦♦ The year 2005 was a momentous one. Jack reunited with former bandmates Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker for Cream's first concert tour in 37 years. In May the band played four historic nights at London's Royal Albert Hall, which were recorded and subsequently released on both audio and video. In October the band played three concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City; during the same week Jack was honored, along with Ron Carter, with the Bass Player Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his pioneering musicianship and his outstanding influence on the development of modern bass technique. In February 2006 Jack took the stage at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California to accept a special Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Cream.
♦♦ Recent years have seen Jack continuing his involvement with his passion — music. In 2007 he was awarded with a Doctor of Music degree from his Alumni College, The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Two new albums were released in 2008. The first was Jack Bruce with the HR Big Band, versions of Jack performing songs old and new arranged for the wonderful German orchestra of the Hessische Rundfunk. ♦♦ The second was Seven Moons, an album of new material, with master guitarist, Robin Trower and drummer, Gary Husband. Also released in 2008 was Spirit, a multi-disc set of recordings of Jack's live performances at the BBC. Also released was the six CD box set entitled Can You Follow? which traces his career from the age of nineteen up until (almost) the present day.
♦♦ In 2009 Jack was awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters from Glasgow Caledonian University.
♦♦ 2010 saw the release of Jack’s authorized biography, 'Composing Himself.' In 2011, Jack was awarded the third Bass Player International Lifetime Achievement Award at the NAMM Show in Los Angeles, released the amazing album, Live At The Milky Way with his Latin band The Cuicoland Express, toured and recorded with his new band, Spectrum Road featuring Vernon Reid (guitar), John Medeski (keyboards) and Cindy Blackman Santana (drums) as well as playing a special concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London celebrating its 60th anniversary. The event celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Blues in Great Britain, Jack played with his Big Blues Band and special guest Joe Bonamassa.
♦♦ Festival appearances with his Big Blues Band continue throughout the UK and Europe. Jack also appeared as a special guest of the Stax label tribute band, The Staxs at Cornbury Festival 2011, which was recorded by Abbey Road Studios.
♦♦ Jack started 2012 playing the Gerry Rafferty tribute concert in Glasgow, followed by a date with the traditional Celtic band Lau. BBC Scotland recorded a one–hour special on Jack. The completed documentary Jack Bruce — The Man behind the Bass was transmitted on BBC Scotland. It featured new interviews, with Bruce, Clapton, Baker and Brown, as well as the concert footage featuring new versions of six career spanning songs, We're Going Wrong, Sunshine of Your Love, Weird of Hermiston, Theme for an Imaginary Western, Keep it Down and Child Song.
♦♦ February 2012 saw Jack playing in Havana, Cuba, along with guitarist Phil Manzanera, supporting the mambo band of Augusto Enriquez. March saw a 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 was recorded and a live double album Jack Bruce & his Big Blues Band — Live 2012 was released by Instant Live.
♦♦ Spectrum Road was released in June 2012 by the U.S. Jazz record label Palmetto Records, accompanied by a series of dates at large Jazz festivals in North America and Europe throughout June and July.
♦♦ Jack's 14th solo album Silver Rails was released worldwide during early 2014 to extremely good reviews — Rolling Stone commenting that Jack had finally moved past Cream — and to the delight of a vastly burgeoning group of very faithful fans, new as well as old. Jack and his beloved wife Margrit are planning to spend a lot of time in their beautiful estancia in Majorca where they intend to peel grapes and make pa amb oli from their home grown tomatoes and olive oil. Jack has a couple of new musical pieces on the boil too including a follow up to Candlelight again with lyrics by Margrit Seyffer. Notes: Bruce died on 25 October 2014 from liver disease in Suffolk, England, aged 71. His publicist Claire Singers said: "He died today at his home in Suffolk surrounded by his family."
© Jack Bruce Music. All rights reserved.
Website: Erich "Hypsta" Krause Graphic Design
Tweeter: https://twitter.com/jackbrucemusic
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/JackBruceMusic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JackBruceMusic
Press: Sharon:
Agent: Margrit Seyffer: http://www.jackbruce.com/2008/Booking/booking.htm
Esoteric Recordings: http://www.esotericrecordings.com/
For Bass Players Only: Gary Graff, September 10, 2014: http://forbassplayersonly.com/feature-jack-bruce-still-going-strong-at-71/
Fan pages: http://www.vanguardproductions.net/jackbruce/
Pledge: http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/jackbruce#project
By Reverend Keith A. Gordon, Blues Expert: http://blues.about.com/od/cddvdreviews/fr/BruceTrowerDVD.htm
ROBIN TROWER: http://www.trowerpower.com/
ROBIN TROWER EQUIPMENT:
♦♦ In Procol Harum Trower typically played Gibson guitars. Upon launching his solo career Trower changed to a Fender Stratocaster almost exclusively. During a tour with Jethro Tull, Robin arrived early for a sound check and found Martin Barre’s Stratocaster (which Barre used for slide playing) propped up against an amplifier. Trower picked up the guitar, plugged it in, and with a shout which resounded around the auditorium yelled, "This is it!" "I then switched to Strat" he says. "Up to then I had been playing Les Pauls."
♦♦ Since then Trower has been a longtime proponent of the Fender Stratocaster. He currently uses his custom–built Strat (made by the Fender Custom Shop) which comes in Black, Arctic White and Midnight Wine Burst. The guitar is equipped with a 1950s reissue pick-up in the neck position, a 1960s reissue in the middle position, and a Texas Special at the bridge. Other features included a custom C–shaped maple neck featuring a large headstock with a Bullet truss–rod system, locking machine heads and a maple fingerboard with narrow–spaced abalone dot position inlays and 21 frets. The Strats he plays live are an exact model of his signature guitar, which is entirely unmodified. During live performances and on most of his albums, his guitar is tuned a full step down to a DGCFAD tuning.
♦♦ Trower uses between one and three 100–watt Marshall heads with four to six cabinets on stage. While he usually uses two JCM 800s and a JCM 900, he also links 100–watt Marshall Plexi heads. In studio sessions, Trower uses a mix of amplifiers, such as a Fender Blues Junior and Cornell Plexi Amplifers models to acquire different tonality. Recently, Trower has been using Marshall Vintage Modern 2466 heads live.
♦♦ He has recently been using Fulltone pedals and effects. He favours the OCD, Distortion Pro, Fat Boost, CLYDE Deluxe Wah, Deja Vibe 2, Soul–Bender, and a BOSS Chromatic Tuner. He runs his Deja Vibe into his distortion pedal to get his famous tone. He was given his own signature Fulltone Robin Trower Overdrive in late 2008.
For his 2009 and 2011 US tours Robin was using his Fender Custom Shop Signature Stratocaster into a Fulltone Deja Vibe 2, Fulltone Wahfull, Fulltone Clyde Standard Wah, Fulltone Full Drive, Fulltone Robin Trower Overdrive and Boss TU–2 Chromatic Tuner into two Marshall Vintage Modern 2466 heads.
With Jack Bruce:
♦♦ 1981 B.L.T.
♦♦ 1982 Truce
♦♦ 1989 No Stopping Anytime (compilation)
♦♦ 2008 Seven Moons
♦♦ 2009 Seven Moons Live (live)
____________________________________________________________
| Jack Bruce & Robin Trower |
| Seven Moons |
♦♦ When Jack Bruce apologizes at the end of the show, saying “us old guys, we get it right eventually,” it's perceived as a moment of levity by the audience...after all, these guys have seldom gotten it wrong, and what they accomplish with these fourteen songs is a brilliant fusion of electric blues and hard rock, delivering a breathtaking showcase of instrumental virtuosity that will entertain any viewer that enjoys guitar-driven blues–rock performances.
♦♦ Bruce released new studio album Silver Rails in March 2014 on the Esoteric Antenna, his first solo studio album in over a decade. "Silver Rails" was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London and features contributions from Cream (band) lyricists Pete Brown, Kip Hanrahan and wife Margrit Seyffer as well as musicians Robin Trower, Cindy Blackman, Phil Manzanera, Uli Jon Roth, John Medeski and Bernie Marsden. The deluxe version of the album featured a behind the scenes documentary "The Making of Silver Rails" which was filmed on location at Abbey Road Studios and directed by Bruce's daughter Kyla Simone Bruce. Bruce's son Malcolm Bruce pre–produced the album and plays guitar on several tracks and Bruce's daughter Aruba Red features on 'Hidden Cities' singing backing vocals.
♦♦ “I thought it was going to be really hard to come up with songs that worked and that I like, but it turned out to be very, very natural and I just found it was so easy to write,” Bruce says. “I used Songs For a Tailor as a template and I kind of listened to that and I based the kind of atmosphere and the feeling of the songs on Silver Rails on that, so it’s kind of a bookends, if you like.”
♦♦ Natascha: My name is Natascha and I am Jack Bruce’s daughter, you may also know me as Aruba Red. In 2001 my Dad recorded an incredible live performance at the Melkweg (Milkyway) in Amsterdam with his amazing band Cuicoland Express. This recording has never been released, something that I am determined to change because I believe that all the lovers of my father’s music deserve to hear this recording. The musicianship and clarity is beautiful and Jack’s voice and playing on this record simply needs to be heard.
♦♦ Hudební průmysl se rychle mění, a ačkoli pro mnoho tradičních platforem je to náročné, tyto změny také otevírají několik opravdu zajímavých příležitostí, s kterými se chci s vámi podělit. Namísto uvolnění tohoto záznamu prostřednictvím nahrávací společnosti, Jack se nejprve rozhodl, že by rád, aby se přímo týkaly vás, fanoušků a příznivce jeho hudby, takže můžete dostat svých rukou koncert dříve, než kdokoliv jiný.
Birth name: Robin Leonard Trower
Born: 9 March 1945, Catford, South East London England, United Kingdom
Notable instruments:
♦♦ Signature Model Stratocaster
Birth name: John Symon Asher Bruce
Born: 14 May 1943, Bishopbriggs, Lanarkshire, Scotland / Died: Oct. 25. 2014, Suffolk, England
Instruments: Vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards, harmonica, cello
Notable instruments:
♦♦ Fender Bass VI
♦♦ Danelectro Longhorn
♦♦ Gibson EB-3
♦♦ Gibson EB-1
♦♦ Warwick Thumb Signature
♦♦ Warwick Jack Bruce CRB
Location: London, UK
Album release: January 1, 2008/October 13th, 2009
Record Label: V–12 Records/Ruf Records
Duration: 47:59
Tracks:
01 Seven Moons 4:40
02 Lives of Clay 5:02
03 Distant Places of the Heart 5:24
04 She's Not the One 2:55
05 So Far to Yesterday 3:33
06 Just Another Day* 5:29
07 Pefect Place 3:47
08 The Last Door 5:08
09 Bad Case of Celebrity 4:05
10 Come to Me 4:44
11 I'm Home 3:12
℗© 2007, 2011 V12 records Inc.
• Gray marble colored vinyl
• Included free download card
♦♦ All tracks written by Jack Bruce / Robin Trower except Just Another Day, Bruce*, Watts*, Trower*
Featuring
♦♦ Jack Bruce (vocals, bass guitar);
♦♦ Robin Trower (guitars, vocals);
♦♦ Gary Husband (drums).
♦♦ Recorded at Intimate Studios.
♦♦ Engineered by Paul Madden.
♦♦ Mixed at Lukeroom Studio by Marc DeSisto.
♦♦ Mastered at The Mastering Lab by James Hadley.
♦♦ Erich "Hypsta" Krause Graphic Design
Product Description
♦♦ Two legends, one hour of fearsome axe–wielding! They do virtually the entire Seven Moons album plus signature tunes from Bruce's famous catalog, all filmed at the majestic Concertgebouw De Vereeniging in the Netherlands in 5.1 Surround Sound. Tracks include Lives Of Clay; Perfect Place; White Room; Politician and more!
Review by Hal Horowitz; Score: ***½
♦♦ Jack Bruce must have enjoyed his 2005 get–together with Cream so much that, when Clapton and Baker were unwilling to continue the collaboration, he rang up Robin Trower to renew the brief power trio fling they had in the mid–'80s. The Trower–Bruce pairing had released only two albums, B.L.T. and Truce, and was dormant since 1982, so this 2007 reunion was somewhat of a continuation of the project, albeit one separated by a quarter century. The results impressively continue where Truce left off, as Bruce brings his distinctive croon/moan to bluesy, riff–oriented tunes dominated by Trower's silvery guitar runs. Gary Husband fills the drum slot adequately if inconspicuously, but his contributions are mixed so far under Bruce's vocals and Trower's guitar that they are secondary. The previous two releases called in Trower's old Procol Harum lyricist Keith Reid and Bruce collaborator Peter Brown to write the words, but Bruce and Trower pen these 11 songs without outside assistance. Most tunes such as "Lives of Clay," a barely concealed rewrite of Cream's "Politician" lick, revisit familiar territory, and clearly these guys are not out to expand any boundaries. Bruce, who has had serious medical problems since they last recorded, sounds terrific — strong and vibrant, even if a few tunes such as the minor–key ballad "I'm Home" seem somewhat clunky. This disc's "So Far to Yesterday" recalls Trower's "Twice Removed from Yesterday" both in its title and general mood. The yin/yang pairing keeps Bruce's more oblique jazz influences in check and does the same for Trower's space rock instincts, yielding a throwback that fans of both artists' previous work should enjoy. Trower's patented Hendrix–styled guitar adds a psychedelic edge to songs that generally stick to a midtempo lope and never blast out with Cream's insistent power, which can be somewhat frustrating to anyone who would like to hear these guys let loose. Still, there are enough strong moments on Seven Moons to recommend it, especially to those who enjoyed the duo's previous work 25 years ago.
JACK BRUCE.
♦♦ The composer, the singer, the multi–instrumentalist, the Legend. Hailed as one of the most powerful vocalists and greatest bassists of his time, his improvisational skill and utterly unique, free–spirited approach to composition and performance would forever change electric music. His pioneering, full–toned, free–wheeling playing on the electric bass revolutionised the way the instrument is used and influenced the playing of countless bassists to today, including Sting and Jaco Pastorius. His work with bands such as Cream and the Tony Williams Lifetime, as well as his solo material, unlocked the doors to the pent–up energy of a new approach to the art of sound, breaking the barriers of tradition and creating a kind of music that had never been heard. Jack was born to musical parents in the shipbuilding city of Glasgow, Scotland on 14 May 1943. ♦♦ His parents travelled extensively in Canada and the U.S.A. Jack attended 14 different schools, finishing his formal education at Bellahouston Academy and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, to which he won a scholarship for cello and composition. He left the Academy and his homeland at the age of 16, because of poverty and discouraged by his professors' lack of interest in his ideas.
♦♦ Jack travelled to Italy and then England, playing double–bass in dance bands and jazz groups, and joined his first important band in 1962 in London. This was Alexis Korner's Blues Inc. with whom Charlie Watts, later to join the Rolling Stones, was their drummer. Jack left Alexis in 1963 to form a group with organist Graham Bond, guitarist John McLaughlin and drummer Ginger Baker. This group became the seminal Graham Bond Organisation after John left, and saxophonist Dick Heckstall–Smith joined. Jack was compelled to leave this band after three years by Ginger Baker, who said his playing was "too busy"! Jack had to turn down Marvin Gaye's offer to join his U.S.–based band because of his impending first marriage. He then joined John Mayall's Blues Breakers, where he first met Eric Clapton, followed by Manfred Mann in an ill–advised attempt at commercialism. It was Ginger Baker who initially asked Jack to form a trio with Eric Clapton. Eric insisted that Jack would be the singer.
♦♦ Cream went on to sell 35,000,000 albums in just over two years and was awarded the first ever platinum disc for Wheels of Fire. Jack wrote and sang most of the songs, including "I Feel Free", "White Room", "Politician" and perhaps the world's most performed guitar riff, in "Sunshine Of Your Love". Cream split in November 1968 at the height of their popularity; Jack felt that he had strayed too far from his ideals and wanted to re–discover his musical and social roots. He began recording solo albums; the first being his influential Songs For A Tailor and thereafter commenced his policy of playing simultaneously in rock, jazz and classical formats, attempting to realise his personal and unique style of performance and recording which is an amalgam of these three plus the influence of other important world and ethnic music.
♦♦ Around this time, during the American tour of the first of Jack's own bands (this one featuring guitarist Larry Coryell and Jimi Hendrix's drummer Mitch Mitchell), Jack was introduced to Tony Williams by John McLaughlin. He soon joined Tony's Lifetime, along with John and the late, great Larry Young; an experience he describes as "the musical time of my life". Frustrated by the breakup of Lifetime and greatly saddened by Hendrix's tragic death (Tony and Jack had been talking to Jimi about forming a "dream" band together), Jack found solace in returning to his heavy roots with the formation of West Bruce and Laing with Leslie West and Corky Laing.
Since then, Jack has fronted many of his own bands (featuring, amongst others, such side people as Carla Bley, Mick Taylor, Simon Phillips, Tony Hymas, Billy Cobham, David Sancious and Gary Moore), recording numerous solo albums as well as collaborating on special projects with artists like Carla Bley (Escalator Over The Hill) and Kip Hanrahan (Desire Develops An Edge). He has also worked as session man on carefully chosen dates with the likes of Lou Reed (Berlin) and Frank Zappa, with whom Jack co–wrote Apostrophe, which became Frank's biggest selling album.
♦♦ In 1991 Jack performed in Vienna in a new, specially commissioned work with Michael Mantler and Mike Gibbs, accompanied by the Niederoesterreichischen Tonkuenstler Symphony Orchestra. He also completed a successful tour of ten European capitals with his thirteen–piece Latin/Jazz/Rock fusion orchestra. Throughout the early 1990s he increased his knowledge of World music, his two solo albums A Question of Time (Epic/Sony) and Somethin Els (CMP) stating the new direction towards which his music would evolve.
♦♦ At the Guitar Legends festival in Seville, in 1992, Jack enjoyed playing with Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Steve Cropper and many other friends.
♦♦ The year 1993 was special, starting with Jack's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Cream, and ending with an inspired fiftieth birthday concert which featured many of his old friends including Dick Heckstall–Smith, Maggie Reilly and Gary Moore. This event which was recorded and released as a CD box set entitled Cities of the Heart (CMP) led to Jack forming BBM with Gary Moore and Ginger Baker and subsequently releasing the top-ten album Around the Next Dream (Virgin).
♦♦ In 1995, Jack concentrated on his keyboard playing and recorded a set of piano solos and duos with organist Bernie Worrell, who played previously with George Clinton, Funkadelic and Talking Heads. The release of the recording, entitled Monkjack, represented a new departure for Jack. He was delighted to have been invited to present this material at the Edinburgh Festival and the Queen Elizabeth Hall in September of that year.
♦♦ In Copenhagen in the autumn of 1996, Jack took part in the first performances of Michael Mantler's School of Understanding, which has been described by Michael as a "sort–of–an–opera". There were further performances in Berlin early in 1998.
During the late 1990s, Jack toured with several iterations of Ringo Starr's All Star Band, along with guitarists Peter Frampton, Todd Rundgren and Dave Edmunds, keyboardists Gary Brooker and Eric Carmen, drummer Simon Kirke, and horn player Mark Rivera.
♦♦ In 1999 and 2000 Jack returned to the studio with co-producer Kip Hanrahan to record his solo CD, Shadows in the Air, which hit #5 on the UK Jazz & Blues Chart following its 2001 release by Sanctuary Records. The album's cast featured a pantheon of musical guests, including Eric Clapton, Dr John, Gary Moore, Vernon Reid and Changuito Luis Quintana. Jack's supporting 2001–2002 world tour included the talents of Vernon Reid, Bernie Worrell, Robby Ameen, El Negro Horacio Hernandez, and Richie Flores, known collectively as Jack Bruce & The Cuicoland Express.
♦♦ In 2002 Jack participated in a summer tour with A Walk Down Abbey Road, a tribute to The Beatles featuring Alan Parsons, Todd Rundgren, Mark Farner, Christopher Cross, Godfrey Townsend, John Beck and Steve Murphy. In November, Jack joined Uli Jon Roth, Glenn Hughes and Michael Schenker for the Legends of Rock tour.
♦♦ The year 2003 saw the release of Jack's second album on Sanctuary Records, More Jack Than God. Like its predecessor Shadows in the Air, the album was co-produced by Kip Hanrahan. Among the musicians is the core band from Shadows in the Air, Godfrey Townsend, and Jack's son, Malcolm Bruce. More Jack Than God blends a diverse range of musical styles from classic, Willie Dixon inspired blues, to hints of the Latin and World music flavours that Bruce and Hanrahan explored through the 1980s and 1990s, to the subtle and gentle beauty that reflect Jack's growing introspective approach to songwriting.
♦♦ The year 2005 was a momentous one. Jack reunited with former bandmates Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker for Cream's first concert tour in 37 years. In May the band played four historic nights at London's Royal Albert Hall, which were recorded and subsequently released on both audio and video. In October the band played three concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City; during the same week Jack was honored, along with Ron Carter, with the Bass Player Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his pioneering musicianship and his outstanding influence on the development of modern bass technique. In February 2006 Jack took the stage at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California to accept a special Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Cream.
♦♦ Recent years have seen Jack continuing his involvement with his passion — music. In 2007 he was awarded with a Doctor of Music degree from his Alumni College, The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Two new albums were released in 2008. The first was Jack Bruce with the HR Big Band, versions of Jack performing songs old and new arranged for the wonderful German orchestra of the Hessische Rundfunk. ♦♦ The second was Seven Moons, an album of new material, with master guitarist, Robin Trower and drummer, Gary Husband. Also released in 2008 was Spirit, a multi-disc set of recordings of Jack's live performances at the BBC. Also released was the six CD box set entitled Can You Follow? which traces his career from the age of nineteen up until (almost) the present day.
♦♦ In 2009 Jack was awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters from Glasgow Caledonian University.
♦♦ 2010 saw the release of Jack’s authorized biography, 'Composing Himself.' In 2011, Jack was awarded the third Bass Player International Lifetime Achievement Award at the NAMM Show in Los Angeles, released the amazing album, Live At The Milky Way with his Latin band The Cuicoland Express, toured and recorded with his new band, Spectrum Road featuring Vernon Reid (guitar), John Medeski (keyboards) and Cindy Blackman Santana (drums) as well as playing a special concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London celebrating its 60th anniversary. The event celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Blues in Great Britain, Jack played with his Big Blues Band and special guest Joe Bonamassa.
♦♦ Festival appearances with his Big Blues Band continue throughout the UK and Europe. Jack also appeared as a special guest of the Stax label tribute band, The Staxs at Cornbury Festival 2011, which was recorded by Abbey Road Studios.
♦♦ Jack started 2012 playing the Gerry Rafferty tribute concert in Glasgow, followed by a date with the traditional Celtic band Lau. BBC Scotland recorded a one–hour special on Jack. The completed documentary Jack Bruce — The Man behind the Bass was transmitted on BBC Scotland. It featured new interviews, with Bruce, Clapton, Baker and Brown, as well as the concert footage featuring new versions of six career spanning songs, We're Going Wrong, Sunshine of Your Love, Weird of Hermiston, Theme for an Imaginary Western, Keep it Down and Child Song.
♦♦ February 2012 saw Jack playing in Havana, Cuba, along with guitarist Phil Manzanera, supporting the mambo band of Augusto Enriquez. March saw a 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 was recorded and a live double album Jack Bruce & his Big Blues Band — Live 2012 was released by Instant Live.
♦♦ Spectrum Road was released in June 2012 by the U.S. Jazz record label Palmetto Records, accompanied by a series of dates at large Jazz festivals in North America and Europe throughout June and July.
♦♦ Jack's 14th solo album Silver Rails was released worldwide during early 2014 to extremely good reviews — Rolling Stone commenting that Jack had finally moved past Cream — and to the delight of a vastly burgeoning group of very faithful fans, new as well as old. Jack and his beloved wife Margrit are planning to spend a lot of time in their beautiful estancia in Majorca where they intend to peel grapes and make pa amb oli from their home grown tomatoes and olive oil. Jack has a couple of new musical pieces on the boil too including a follow up to Candlelight again with lyrics by Margrit Seyffer. Notes: Bruce died on 25 October 2014 from liver disease in Suffolk, England, aged 71. His publicist Claire Singers said: "He died today at his home in Suffolk surrounded by his family."
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Agent: Margrit Seyffer: http://www.jackbruce.com/2008/Booking/booking.htm
Esoteric Recordings: http://www.esotericrecordings.com/
For Bass Players Only: Gary Graff, September 10, 2014: http://forbassplayersonly.com/feature-jack-bruce-still-going-strong-at-71/
Fan pages: http://www.vanguardproductions.net/jackbruce/
Pledge: http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/jackbruce#project
By Reverend Keith A. Gordon, Blues Expert: http://blues.about.com/od/cddvdreviews/fr/BruceTrowerDVD.htm
ROBIN TROWER: http://www.trowerpower.com/
ROBIN TROWER EQUIPMENT:
♦♦ In Procol Harum Trower typically played Gibson guitars. Upon launching his solo career Trower changed to a Fender Stratocaster almost exclusively. During a tour with Jethro Tull, Robin arrived early for a sound check and found Martin Barre’s Stratocaster (which Barre used for slide playing) propped up against an amplifier. Trower picked up the guitar, plugged it in, and with a shout which resounded around the auditorium yelled, "This is it!" "I then switched to Strat" he says. "Up to then I had been playing Les Pauls."
♦♦ Since then Trower has been a longtime proponent of the Fender Stratocaster. He currently uses his custom–built Strat (made by the Fender Custom Shop) which comes in Black, Arctic White and Midnight Wine Burst. The guitar is equipped with a 1950s reissue pick-up in the neck position, a 1960s reissue in the middle position, and a Texas Special at the bridge. Other features included a custom C–shaped maple neck featuring a large headstock with a Bullet truss–rod system, locking machine heads and a maple fingerboard with narrow–spaced abalone dot position inlays and 21 frets. The Strats he plays live are an exact model of his signature guitar, which is entirely unmodified. During live performances and on most of his albums, his guitar is tuned a full step down to a DGCFAD tuning.
♦♦ Trower uses between one and three 100–watt Marshall heads with four to six cabinets on stage. While he usually uses two JCM 800s and a JCM 900, he also links 100–watt Marshall Plexi heads. In studio sessions, Trower uses a mix of amplifiers, such as a Fender Blues Junior and Cornell Plexi Amplifers models to acquire different tonality. Recently, Trower has been using Marshall Vintage Modern 2466 heads live.
♦♦ He has recently been using Fulltone pedals and effects. He favours the OCD, Distortion Pro, Fat Boost, CLYDE Deluxe Wah, Deja Vibe 2, Soul–Bender, and a BOSS Chromatic Tuner. He runs his Deja Vibe into his distortion pedal to get his famous tone. He was given his own signature Fulltone Robin Trower Overdrive in late 2008.
For his 2009 and 2011 US tours Robin was using his Fender Custom Shop Signature Stratocaster into a Fulltone Deja Vibe 2, Fulltone Wahfull, Fulltone Clyde Standard Wah, Fulltone Full Drive, Fulltone Robin Trower Overdrive and Boss TU–2 Chromatic Tuner into two Marshall Vintage Modern 2466 heads.
With Jack Bruce:
♦♦ 1981 B.L.T.
♦♦ 1982 Truce
♦♦ 1989 No Stopping Anytime (compilation)
♦♦ 2008 Seven Moons
♦♦ 2009 Seven Moons Live (live)
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