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Spectrum Road with Vernon Reid, Jack Bruce, John Medeski, Cindy Blackm


robertoart

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Saw them at Yoshi's about a year and a half ago. I enjoyed it - especially in a club situation. A treat to see Jack Bruce, too.

Also, it was not unexpected when Carlos Santana showed up and dominated for a couple of tunes (Bay Area, husband of drummer, etc.).

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Jack is one of my all time favorite musicians. Extremely varied in his musical output. Besides his eclectic catalog of solo albums, he's played with a wide variety of artists such as Tony Williams, Carla Bley, Kip Hanrahan, Zappa, and John McLaughlin.

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Jack is one of my all time favorite musicians. Extremely varied in his musical output. Besides his eclectic catalog of solo albums, he's played with a wide variety of artists such as Tony Williams, Carla Bley, Kip Hanrahan, Zappa, and John McLaughlin.

And Larry Coryell. But they never made it to the studio. Didn't know he played with Robin Trower. I only really know Trower from a live LP I had with the song 'Too Rolling Stoned' :) I used to dig that one.

Lifetime was amazing. I suspect it was one of those bands that never got documented for the ages the way it should have. I also love the Ted Dunbar version, and enjoy the video clip of that band. Wonder how the McLaughlin/Bruce/Young band sounded live.

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I bought the album and like it. It only received a lukewarm two stars in July's issue of Jazzwise mag, but I think it was a little better than that. Bruce, who was the living embodiment of the original band, has lost none of his talents, his voice sounding as resonant and powerful as it did nearly 50 years ago.

Cindy Blackman had a very difficult job in trying to fill TW's shoes, but does a good job, John Medeski sounds more like Larry Young than Larry Young at times and it is a revelation to hear Vernon Reid's guitar outings here, whereas on previous Bruce albums, he is restrained by comparison.

Compare and contrast this album not so much with Lifetime but with Trio Beyond (Scofield, De Johnette and Goldings)whose ECM album "Saudades" is to my ears somewhat less dynamic than this latest paen to the great TWL.

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How 'bout Trower and Bruce?

Their recent reunion album was quite good. I love Bruce. I think he was one of the greatest singers of classic rock besides one of the best bass players, and I love him on the Michael Mantler stuff too. I recently watched a documentary about the Cream reunion. I was unaware of how much Ginger Baker can't stand Bruce!

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How 'bout Trower and Bruce?

Their recent reunion album was quite good. I love Bruce. I think he was one of the greatest singers of classic rock besides one of the best bass players, and I love him on the Michael Mantler stuff too. I recently watched a documentary about the Cream reunion. I was unaware of how much Ginger Baker can't stand Bruce!

The success of Cream is quite surprising given how much the 3 of them couldn't stand one another. If you read Clapton's autobiography (a good read, btw), you'll find out how bummed out Clapton was that Winwood wanted Baker for Blind Faith. I agree on Bruce. However, I revisited "Songs for a Tailor" and "Harmony Row" today, and found them both to be quite pedestrian.

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oh one more thing, ive -never- seen a copy of that lp- 'turn it over' on verve. never ever seen a copy of that. the cover when i recently saw a pic online it looks kind of like the cover to the velvet undergound - white light/white heat. need to buy this either a verve original or perhaps a polydor cd issue?

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How 'bout Trower and Bruce?

Their recent reunion album was quite good. I love Bruce. I think he was one of the greatest singers of classic rock besides one of the best bass players, and I love him on the Michael Mantler stuff too. I recently watched a documentary about the Cream reunion. I was unaware of how much Ginger Baker can't stand Bruce!

The success of Cream is quite surprising given how much the 3 of them couldn't stand one another. If you read Clapton's autobiography (a good read, btw), you'll find out how bummed out Clapton was that Winwood wanted Baker for Blind Faith. I agree on Bruce. However, I revisited "Songs for a Tailor" and "Harmony Row" today, and found them both to be quite pedestrian.

Ouch! "Harmony Row" is one of my favorite albums.

I highly recommend Kip Hanrahan's Vertical's Currency (with Jack on the cover) for a different take on his talent - both instrumentally and vocally. Check out Jack's work on the sensual "Make Love 2" and also a version of "Smiles & Grins" from Harmony Row.

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oh one more thing, ive -never- seen a copy of that lp- 'turn it over' on verve. never ever seen a copy of that. the cover when i recently saw a pic online it looks kind of like the cover to the velvet undergound - white light/white heat. need to buy this either a verve original or perhaps a polydor cd issue?

This was my introduction to the Lifetime sound. Back in the mid-80's. I used to love listening to 'Big Nick"

Typical that they left Larry Young off the cover :(

Lifetime+LP+Slv.jpg

14. Lifetime featuring John McLaughlin, Jack Bruce, Tony Williams and Larry Young (Polydor Special 2482 179) 1975

Side 1: One Word/A Famous Blues/Vashkar/Emergency

Side 2: Two Worlds/Spectrum/Big Nick/Vuelta Abajo

This compilation probably did less favours for the sound than the original Verve vinyl :lol:

But I didn't know nor care then. It was all about the music :D

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Catching them on Saturday at the Howard Theatre. Long live Larry Young!

Bertrand.

Bertrand,

If they play anywhere near where they played last night you're in for a treat. I saw them at B.B. King's in NYC last night and they were on fire from the start. They played just about all of their disc, and everybody was SMOKIN'. Cindy Blackman beat the daylights out of her drumset, which is what this music needs to be what it should be. She drove the band HARD, pushing tempos and pushing the soloists to hit their limits. Vernon Reid played some stellar guitar, and I think sometimes he slips on an 11th finger for solos. Medeski was even doing forearms to the organ(he played only organ and mellotron) and whipped up wicked stuff. Bruce's voice sounded great, and his bass playing was spot on all night. They closed the set with 'Politician' and for their encore they did a trippy, jammy version of 'Sunshine of Your Love' that blew the doors off! Excellent set of music, it left me feeling energetic and positive. ALL HAIL CINDY BLACKMAN!!! I saw Bruce Galanter of Downtown Music Gallery at the gig, and he was diggin' it big time.

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Jack is one of my all time favorite musicians. Extremely varied in his musical output. Besides his eclectic catalog of solo albums, he's played with a wide variety of artists such as Tony Williams, Carla Bley, Kip Hanrahan, Zappa, and John McLaughlin.

I saw him playing acoustic stand-up bass with the Mike Gibbs band once.

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