The Club A Gogo must have been
the place to be. The Animals, Hendrix and Cream. Then there was a who’s who of
the jazz and blues scene ascending the stairs – was it second floor or maybe
third? Years later, the legendary venue, long-since closed, saw service as a
bus drivers’ canteen before the demolition men moved in.
Years later Jack Bruce returned
to Newcastle (Cream an acrimonious memory) to
play Newcastle City Hall with Carla Bley. Then the Jack
Bruce Band graced the same hall. The Park Hotel, Tynemouth
played unlikely host to Bruce. The ballroom packed, Jack with the Norman Beaker
Band tore it up (the great voice perhaps in decline, the bass-playing anything
but). In recent years there was the Tyne Theatre show (Ken was there). Tony
Williams’ Lifetime was surely the band to see. Here’s a question…did any Bebop
Spoken Here readers get to hear them?
Russell.
Unfortunately I didn't - though I seem to remember being at a raver's party in the early 1960's in Brighton, and Ginger Baker was there - with a friend called Jack. Maybe? But who knows that Jack Bruce's favourite bass man was Johann Sebastian Bach - allegedly.
ReplyDeleteYes, Jack revered JS Bach. Jack studied cello. I've always thought that if JSB turned-up at a jam session he would be one almighty improviser!
ReplyDeleteLifetime played City Hall at Jazz Fest 1970's ish?
ReplyDeleteVery loud for a jazz group at the time.