Jeff Berlin

We uncover the story behind Jeff’s upcoming record, Jack Songs: An All-Star Tribute to Jack Bruce

Known for some of the most virtuosic bass chops on the planet, Jeff Berlin is a bassist with plenty to say about life at the low end. His career covers some 40 years of music making involving top sideman jobs with the likes of Bill Bruford and Scott Henderson, burning trio sessions with Stu Hamm and Billy Sheehan, and a string of solo albums. Jeff’s also founded his own music school, the Players School of Music in Clearwater, Florida. His latest project is a tribute to the late Cream bassist Jack Bruce that will be released via Pledge Music. www.jeffberlinplaysjackbruce.com

The record, which will feature Jeff’s own arrangements of music from Bruce’s career, boasts a growing list of special guests, including the likes of Allan Holdsworth, Steve Lukather, Scott Henderson, Mick Taylor, Neal Schon, David Sancious, Paul Shaffer, Chad Smith, Gary Husband, Dennis Chambers, Narada Michael Walden and many others. “Jack Bruce was an influence on everybody,” says Jeff. “He was the first virtuoso the electric bass ever had. He was also a master of so many styles, with his own solo albums spanning a range of sounds that make him impossible to categorise. The studio albums were really good, but Wheels Of Fire and ‘Sweet Wine’ on Live Cream were unbelievable. Jack was just as influential as Jaco to any of us. I’m the bass player I am now because of Jack.”