For Immediate Release

Bass Icon Jeff Berlin To Release New Tribute Album To Legendary Jack Bruce “Jack Songs”

Features guest performers Sammy Hagar, Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee, Gregg Bissonette, Gary Husband, Eric Johnson, Bill Frisell, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, Alex Ligertwood, Scott Henderson, Marcus Miller, Ron Carter, Tony Levin, Michael League, Nathan East, Mark King, Bruce Guttridge, Billy Sheehan and Johnny Hiland!

“Jack Songs” produced by John McCracken

Bass icon Jeff Berlin will be releasing a new tribute album to legendary Jack Bruce titled “Jack Songs” on August 2, 2022! Jack Bruce, best known for his work with classic rock group Cream as well as his critically acclaimed solo work passed away in 2014. Jeff Berlin, who has been called “the greatest bass player in the world”, was a personal friend of Jack’s and wanted to record his songs in remembrance of how Jack helped Jeff to find his own musical path.

Says Jeff, “Recording the music of Jack Bruce has been the most emotional recording project of my career. Jack was the greatest bass influence I ever had. In the center of his music were these strange and wonderful bass lines weaving in and out of the key, reaching for resolutions and finding them, again, and again. Jack’s playing was a living evolving improvisation.

Jack was the Alpha and Omega for me. I never would have become the bass player I became if I didn’t hear his unfettered improvisations and innovations, his creating a completely original bass tone, and his playing every gig as if it was his last. When he died, I immediately set out to honor him by reviewing his music to choose some of my favorite songs of his and recording them via my own musical vision. As was his legacy of musical brilliance, I wanted this record to be brilliant to honor his spirit. He really means this much to me.

‘Jack Songs’ isn’t a cover CD, not in the literal sense. Except for a couple of tunes from his Cream period (arranged in ways that should surprise people) most of the songs on this CD come from other periods in Jack’s musical life after Cream. Jack’s solo career represented a multitude of musical styles. This recording will be a new revamp of some of those songs, some of the best music that I heard from one of the greatest musicians of the last fifty years.

In arranging the music, I was inspired by Giles Martin’s production of The Beatles ‘Love’ CD. His production work on this CD is fantastic. I tried to follow his example of his fitting various Beatle song quotes from different tunes into each tune by doing a similar thing by combining different Jack songs. Rather than computerized manipulation of music that was already recorded, I arranged the music so that each song on ‘Jack Songs’ would end up as an individual work comprised of various parts of other songs in them. I never would have thought of this without Giles showing me this path.”

Guest performers:

Sammy Hagar, Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee, Gregg Bissonette, Gary Husband, Eric Johnson, Bill Frisell, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, Alex Ligertwood, Scott Henderson, Marcus Miller, Ron Carter, Tony Levin, Michael League, Nathan East, Mark King, Bruce Guttridge, Billy Sheehan and Johnny Hiland!

JACK BRUCE, BASSIST FOR THE ICONIC BAND CREAM, ONCE DESCRIBED JEFF BERLIN AS THE “THE BEST BASS PLAYER I’VE EVER HEARD.”

Photo by Arnie Goodman

For over 40 years, Jeff Berlin has stood as one of the most innovative electric bassists of the 20th and 21st centuries. Known for his one-of-a-kind tone, jaw dropping technique and highly advanced harmonic approaches to the bass, Jeff has been one of the major figures in firmly establishing the electric bass as a solo instrument well deserving of its own distinct place in modern music.

Jeff’s recording and performance credits include a who’s who of jazz and rock. They include: Bill Bruford, Allan Holdsworth, Larry Coryell, Pat Martino, John McLaughlin, Anderson Wakeman Bruford Howe, Frank Zappa, Patrick Moraz and many more.

To purchase: www.jeffberlinmusicgroup.com

For more information:
Jeff Berlin’s official website: www.jeffberlinmusicgroup.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/JBerlinMusicGroup
Instagram: @lumpyjazz

Contact: John McCracken – Producer, john@jeffberlinmusicgroup.com

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 1-828-350-8158 (US), glassonyonpr@gmail.com
Jeff Berlin is available for interviews – please contact Billy James at Glass Onyon PR

For Immediate Release

Bass Icon Jeff Berlin To Launch Pledge Music Campaign For New Tribute Album To Legendary Jack Bruce

Launch Date: Tuesday August 18th worldwide on Pledge

Clearwater, FL – Bass icon Jeff Berlin will be launching a Pledge Music Campaign on August 18th for a new tribute album to legendary Jack Bruce titled “Jeff Berlin Plays Jack Bruce: Songs For A Wailer”! Jack Bruce, best known for his work with classic rock legends Cream, as well as his critically acclaimed solo work, sadly passed away in 2014. Jeff Berlin, who has been called “the greatest bass player in the world”, was a personal friend of Jack’s and felt the time was right for a tribute.

Says Jeff, “Recording the music of Jack Bruce will be the most emotional recording project of my career. Jack was the greatest musical influence I ever had. As an impressionable 14 year old bass player, I was stunned by Cream, literally in awe of the music that came from them. And, in the center of the music were these strange and wonderful bass lines weaving in and out of the key, reaching for resolutions and finding them, again, and again. Jack’s playing was a living evolving improvisation. I simply never heard a bass player that had the breadth of originality like Jack had. In fact, I still haven’t!

“ ‘Jeff Berlin Plays Jack Bruce: Songs for a Wailer!’ isn’t a cover CD, not in the literal sense. Except for a couple of tunes from his Cream period (arranged in ways that should surprise people) most of the songs on this CD come from other periods in Jack’s musical life before and after Cream. Jack’s solo career represented a multitude of musical styles, so many in fact that his career reminded me of that famous quote from Forrest Gump: You never knew what you were going to get. This recording, to me, will be a new revamp of some of those songs, some of the best music that I heard from one of the greatest musicians of the last fifty years.”

Guest performers are:
Ginger Baker on drums
Chad Smith on drums
Paul Shaffer on Hammond organ
Allan Holdsworth on guitar

Guest list is still being expanded.

Pledge Music Video: https://vimeo.com/136438029

Known worldwide for his innovative style, Jeff has graced bandstands and recordings with legendary players like Bill Bruford, Dennis Chambers, Neil Peart, Billy Cobham, John McLaughlin, and Allan Holdsworth, and has led bands and recorded his own CDs for nearly 30 years. He has recorded for vocalists Patti Austin and kd Lang; he has traversed the progressive rock realm with former YES members Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe and is the only electric bassist to have played with jazz pianist Bill Evans. Jeff famously turned down an offer to join rockers VAN HALEN. Jeff is also hailed outside the usual musician ranks: Actor Gary Sinise (also a bassist) is one of his biggest fans, and renowned boxing trainer and ESPN commentator Teddy Atlas refers to Jeff as “the best in the business.” Jaco Pastorius considered Berlin a better soloist than he was. Geddy Lee called Jeff “the best bass player on the planet”. Jack Bruce said that Jeff “was the greatest bass player I ever heard!” From straight ahead Jazz to Fusion to Prog-Rock, Jeff is famous for playing anything, always at the very highest level of proficiency and musicality.

“Jeff Berlin Plays Jack Bruce: Songs For A Wailer” will be co-produced with Jeff Berlin by New York based producer John McCracken. John is a gold and platinum record producer/musician/engineer with over 100 recordings produced for major and independent record labels as well as TV and film. He has worked in all genres including rock, pop, jazz and classical/opera. John is also a former EMI Music Group Executive as Head of A&R/Staff Producer for EMI Music/Blue Note Label Group. There he worked with Norah Jones, Amos Lee, Rosanne Cash, Diana Ross, Sarah Brightman, Anouska Shankar (daughter of Ravi and half sister of Norah Jones), Robert Glasper and many others. John is currently spearheading guitar legend Allan Holdsworth’s Tales from the Vault PledgeMusic campaign. He is also an acclaimed guitarist and recording engineer and brings over 35+ years of experience at all levels of music production, A&R/project management and publishing.

Pledge Campaign Link: http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/jeffberlinplaysjackbruce

Jeff Berlin’s official website: http://www.jeffberlinbass.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JEFFPLAYSJACK
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/jbplaysjb

Contact:
Project Management:
John McCracken
Phone 646-470-6842
email: john@johnmccrackenmusicgroup.com

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com
Jeff Berlin is available for interviews – please contact Billy James at Glass Onyon PR