to the late Jack Bruce. The great man tells us about his new release,
Songs For A Wailer
© E c k i e
A SONG
FOR JACK
happening. It affected me so deeply, and I was so taken with Jack’s bass playing in that wonderful trio. We all loved Cream, and I understood why Jack was so great.
I first met Jack around 1977. I was in
England with Bill Bruford, recording with him. I mentioned my admiration for Jack to John Hiseman (a legendary UK drummer and friend of mine) who asked if I wanted to meet him. So Jack came down to Ronnie Scott’s to meet me, and we hung out that evening. He was instantly
engaging and funny: his kind of humour really appealed to me. He made me laugh from the first minute, and I loved him even more after that. He was my hero, my big brother and my musical guide.
We had a band together, although it never recorded: just a couple of gigs around LA with Bruce Gary from the Knack on drums, Jack on bass and me on guitar. It was awesome. He sang and played with his usual intensity. We did a lot of songs fromSongs For A Tailor and
Out Of The Storm.
Songs For A Wailer is a pun I came up with as I reflected on Jack and his songs. Jack wailed when he sang: I coined a phrase, ‘Scottish soul’, which is what he sang, and I wanted to honour his legacy. I didn’t really want to go into the Cream stuff that much because it’s already been done. The producer John McCracken has been spearheading this project in terms of the PledgeMusic campaign and the younger set of musicians – great players all – who I might not normally recruit to the album because I would normally use what I call my jazz mainstays.
Ginger Baker, Chad Smith, Bobby Caldwell and Gary Husband have been invited to play drums on the album, and Mark King is going to sing on it. I would love to have Ringo Starr play on it too, because he has a feel that I have admired for ages, and also because Jack played with him, of course. For one song, I’m planning to have five or six bass players come in: the song is ‘Smiles And Grins’ from 1971, which has an ostinato bass-line. I want to invite Paul McCartney to play four bars of the ostinato, followed by four bars by Sting, and Flea, and an upright bassist like Dave Holland, and Les Claypool – and so on. There would be no tone adjustments: each part would just flow into the next. It would be our chance as bassists to pay tribute.
I wanted to do this when Jack was still here. We talked about recording together for years and years, but sadly time waits for no man. When he passed away, I told myself that I might have missed the opportunity to work with him while he was alive, but that I would honour his memory now that he’s gone – and really do justice to his songs. I didn’t want to do a Cream covers record: I want this record to encompass as many years of Jack’s career as possible, even before Cream. I have an arrangement of a song called ‘Over The Cliff’ that I want to do. The music is flowing out of me like never before, and I can’t wait for you to hear it.
Info: www.jeffberlinbass.com,
www.pledgemusic.com/projects/jeffberlinplaysjackbruce
“JACK WAS MY HERO,
MY BIG BROTHER AND
MY MUSICAL GUIDE”
Jeff Berlin
The mighty Jeff Berlin fusion veteran is releasing a tribute album
F
ronted by the effervescent luthier Douglas Mullen, bassbrand Eve Guitars have created something of a wave over the past few years. As Dougie explains, an Eve bass is made with love, care and attention to detail.It was the limitations of his own bass that led Dougie to dip his toe into the waters of luthiery. “I became interested in building bass guitars in the early 90s, when the limitations of my own bass became quite apparent,” he tells BGM . “It could no longer match what I required, so I investigated the possibility of building my own instrument. I knew the sound I was after, I loved Jaco’s tone and the crunch of Les Claypool’s Carl Thompson bass. They were early signposts towards what I was looking for, but I also wanted a thick low end with plenty of definition and singing mids. The bass also had to be exceptionally comfortable and easy to play. I’ve been astounded by how many basses are difficult to play – they may offer the tonal value you require, but you find yourself fighting with the instrument rather than playing it. The idea wasn’t a career choice: it was simply to solve a particular problem at the time.”
Back then, there was no internet to consult, so the path to becoming an instrument builder was akin to learning the art of alchemy – or s o it seemed to Dougie at the time. “I’m entirely self-taught,” he tells us. “Luthiers were like some mythical creatures you only heard about in low whispers in affluent playing circles: they were difficult to track down to seek advice from, so I had to apply some logical thinking and simply make my best guess as to how to make an instrument. I was nearing the end of high s chool and when I told my woodwork teacher about my plans, he laughed and said that I was on my own as I could barely make a spice rack – which was entirely true. As the build progressed, though, he saw my conviction and gave me advice, eventually becoming a great, supportive mentor.”
Having a bass custom-built can be a dream come true, but also a worrying process for some, wondering if their specification will match the sound in their head. Thankfully, Dougie is on hand for advice. “I discuss every aspect with the customer before an order is placed,” he explains. “We may know one or two things about how something will sound with a particular combination that they may not be aware of. Being a small business means we can experiment with these things without blowing the business model out of kilter.
“Eve Guitars exists to serve the individual and respond to challenges, with a strong sense of design and character in both sound and look. We spend months designing every aspect to make sure that it is functional first, then consider the aesthetics once the actual problem has been s olved. Good design is not about how something looks, but how it functions. Every single Eve bass is made by hand, which is very labour intensive, but we try to keep prices at a human level. We produce around 20 instruments a year, which is testament to the amount of handcraft in every single bass. Nothing ships unless we think it deserves to carry the Eve logo.”
towards what I was looking for but I also wanted a thick low end with plenty of definition and singing mids. The bass also had to be exceptionally comfortable and easy to play. I’ve been astounded by how many basses are difficult to play – they may offer the tonal value you require but you find yourself fighting with the instrument rather than playing it. The idea wasn’t a career choice: it was simply to solve a particular problem at the time.”
Back then there was no internet to consult so the path to becoming an instrument builder was akin to learning the art of alchemy – or so it seeme to Dougie at the time. “I’m entirely self-taught ” he tells us. “Luthiers were like some mythical creatures you only heard about in low whispers in affluent playing circles: they were difficult to track down to seek advice from so I had to apply some logical thinking and simply make my best guess as to how to make an instrument. I was nearing the end of high school and when I told my woodwork teacher about my plans he laughed and said that I was on the build progressed though he saw my conviction and gave me advice
Having a bass custom-built can be a dream come true but also a worrying process for some wondering if their specification will match the sound in their head. Thankfully Dougie is on hand for advice. “I discuss every aspect with the customer before an order is placed ” he explains. “We may know one or two things about how something will sound with a particular combination that they may not be aware of. Being a small business means we can experiment with these things without blowing
“Eve Guitars exists to serve the individual and respond to challenges with a strong sense of design and character in both sound and look. We spend months designing every aspect to make sure that it is functional first then consider the aesthetics once the actual problem has been solved. Good design is not about how something looks but how it functions. Every single Eve bass is made by hand which is very labour intensive but we try to keep prices at a human level. We produce around 20 instruments a year which is testament to the amount of handcraft in every single bass. Nothing ships unless we think it deserves to carry the Eve logo.