Jack Bruce – Bass

What often gets me about some of these tunes is how short they are. I guess, being a Jazz and Prog Rock fan, I am used to tracks being 8 minutes minimum if not 15 – 20. Some of the tunes on these old albums are barely over 2 minutes in length.

This is the complete bass performance on ‘Weird Of Hermiston’ from the 1969 Jack Bruce solo debut ‘Songs For A Tailor’. A bit dated, as most of the tunes on this recording are, but this is an interesting way to get a look at how Bruce’s mind works. It is also interesting to hear some of the ideas that have made their way into the playing of people like Jeff Berlin.

In case any of our American friends are wondering what the title is all about, Hermiston is a hamlet formerly in the county of Midlothian and now part of Edinburgh. Hermiston is also notable as the setting of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel, Weir Of Hermiston. It all makes sense now!