Things We Like, The music of Jack Bruce

About this event

Things We Like' - a celebration of the music of the great Jack Bruce featuring:

Margot Daly – vocals
Michael Buckley – saxophones
Joe O Callaghan - guitar
Izumi Kimura – keyboards
Ronan Guilfoyle – bass
Brendan Doherty - drums

Jack Bruce is probably the reason why I play the bass. Although I was raised on jazz at home, and spent my musical life in jazz, it was hearing Bruce’s great bass lines with Cream that first made me think of how much I liked that sound, and how this could be something I’d like to check out for myself. At one point I obsessively listened to Cream, really focusing on the bass playing and it inspired me to buy my first bass.

Although I migrated fairly rapidly to jazz, I was always checking Jack Bruce out and hearing how different and individualistic his music was – on his solo albums, and with Lifetime, with Mike Gibbs etc. His own background was jazz and he took what he knew into the rock world and did some revolutionary things, as well as writing some of the great rock classics such as ‘Sunshine of Your Love’ and ‘I Feel Free’.

Years later I met Jack and hung out with him at Ronnie Scott’s, and apart from it being a great thrill for me, I found him to be a great guy – very funny and warm with no superstar vibe about him – a real musician, and I was thrilled to have had the chance to meet him and spend a little time with him.

When he passed away in 2014, it made me think about him again and I wanted to do a project based on his music and great songs. I've had a great time going through his enormous songbook and picking tunes I love and trying to find a way to do them that is both respectful to the songs while allowing me to respond to them in a personal way.

I am lucky to have a great band with me – Margot, Michael, Joe, Izumi, and Brendan that are ideal musicians for this project, with the incredible range of skills necessary to do justice to one of the great musicians of the 20th Century!

Ronan guilfoyle