Several photos of Cream's Albert Hall reunion concerts may be found at http://www.handmadewebsites.com/cream/

Cream have released two new compilation sets comprising their 1960s live, studio, and BBC recordings: Gold and I Feel Free - Ultimate Cream.  See our DISCOGRAPHY pages for more information.

JACK BRUCE, GARY MOORE, GARY HUSBAND & MICK TAYLOR will perform at a forthcoming tribute concert to the late Dick Heckstall-Smith, titled 'A Story Ended'.  This celebration of British jazz, blues and rock will take place on Monday 6th June at The Astoria, Charing X Road, London.   Doors 6pm-
tickets are £15 adv.

The all star event will be a suitable commemoration celebrating Dick's life, work and prolific talent.  Musicians confirmed to date include  Jack Bruce, Gary Moore, Gary Husband, Colosseum, Mick Taylor, Pete Brown, John O'Leary, John Etheridge, John Marshall + SURPRISE GUESTS!

All proceed will go to Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy.

News Item Compiled by: - Stephanie Thorburn.

Management have released an important NOTICE regarding the improper sale of Cream tickets.

Important Notice from Management about the Sale of CREAM Reunion Tickets:

Cream, who have just announced four reunion concerts at The Royal Albert Hall in May, have encountered similar problems with internet touts recently experienced by U2. Cream’s promoters 3A have made the following statement:

“It is our belief that we have made all possible efforts to make tickets available to the public but at the same time to make it as difficult as possible for touts to get hold of tickets”

The measures the promoters took included restricting sales to a maximum of four tickets per person (the industry norm is 6) and refusing all group bookings.

Other measures included:

    Restricting tickets sales to two authorised outlets: The Royal Albert Hall and Bookings Direct on 0870 143 2208 or online at www.bookingsdirect.com

    Restricting sales to phone and internet only, thereby enabling cross referencing procedures to weed out multiple bookings using the same address or credit card.

    Monitoring all tickets being offered for sale on Ebay and similar sites and cancelling bookings where tickets are being offered for sale in this way. 

The promoters believe and have observed that the majority of tickets on sale at exploitative prices have been purchased not by touts but by members of the public with a view to using one pair of tickets and selling the other pair on.

“It is our belief that the real culprits in this situation are internet sites who permit daily auctions with seemingly no checks on whether or not the sellers are authorised to sell them – or even whether they have the tickets in the first place. For example; not one ticket has yet been printed for any of the Cream shows and will not be until the checks mentioned above have been made, yet today there are 66 separate Cream ticket offers on EBay.” 

Tickets to the Cream Reunion Concerts are now SOLD OUT.

The Forbes.com website features a video clip concerning Cream's reunion concerts in May.  The clip's narrator, Jim Clash, recently published a book, To the Limits, featuring his 1997 article about the supergroup.  

We've Been Waiting So Long . . . and it is finally happening.  CREAM WILL REUNITE at London's Royal Albert Hall for four nights only on 2, 3, 5 and 6 May 2005.  That's right: Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton are a trio again.   Our apologies to the many loyal readers who endured months of speculation and internet rumours, and whose questions were left unanswered; word had to wait for the official announcement today.

Tickets go on sale Monday 31 January at 9AM London time and are priced at £50, £75, and £125. Book tickets by phone 24 hours at 0870 143 2208 (hospitality packages at 020 8682 1616), or online at www.bookingsdirect.com.  No personal callers - telephone and internet booking only.  Traintime's Almost Here. 

Stephanie Thorburn has written some articles and tributes to the late, great Dick Heckstall-Smith for GrahamBond.net.  The first article is an obituary examining Dick's roots, lifeforce and many musical endeavours.   Her second piece is an extract from some manuscripts she has been writing from new Heckstall-Smith interview and research material.  Thorburn had the benefit of access to some of Dick's personal collection and the assistance of his colleagues, so that she might explore further a number of  highly fruitful, yet less well documented areas in Dick's career.  The below tribute article looks at Dick's achievements and his years with Mainsqueeze.   In conclusion she has brought the reader up to date with the last significant DH-S album success on 'Blues and Beyond', featuring his friends including Jack Bruce, John Mayall, Mick Taylor.  

The obituary article will form the basis of an eight-page illustrated tribute to the late master of the blues saxophone and longtime friend and collaborator of Jack Bruce.  The article will appear in Issue 24 of Blues Matters.

Dick Heckstall-Smith, the "King" of British blues saxophone and long-time friend and mentor of Jack Bruce, passed away last night in a London hospital.  See Jack's Diary for a personal message and eulogy from Jack.  Dick appeared on numerous recordings with Jack, including the Graham Bond Organisation albums and Jack's solo records, Things We Like and Cities of the Heart.  Just months ago Dick published an autobiography and musical history (see entry below on 26.09.04).  He will be sorely missed.

West, Bruce and Laing's live album, Live N Kickin, has been reissued on CD.

Dick Heckstall-Smith, the "King" of British Blues saxophone and a frequent band-member with Jack, has written a new book, Blowing the Blues, which includes a CD of ten rare and unreleased tracks. 

Thank you to all of the Friends and Fans who contributed to the Get Well Guestbook after Jack's successful liver transplant surgery last September.  Because Jack is in good health and in good spirits, we have decided to close the Get Well Guestbook.  Those who would like to view past entries to the Guestbook may do so by clicking HERE.

Several of Jack's early recordings have been released on CD, though only in Europe.  These include Mike Taylor's Trio, Neil Ardley's Greek Variations, and several Graham Bond recordings, including Solid Bond.   Interested purchasers in the U.S. can order these albums from Dusty Groove America in Chicago: www.dustygroove.com

Blues Matters! magazine has release the second part of their interview with Jack Bruce.  See www.bluesmatters.com for the full story.

Blues Matters! magazine (www.bluesmatters.com) issue 18 features a fine review of More Jack Than God.   Assistant Manager Darren Howells has graciously given his permission to re-print the review here:

"More Jack Than God" is a thought provoking title is it not? Jack Bruce is back with another studio effort and it is his finest work in a very long time. Actually, I think the title is easy enough to understand, he is saying that this album is all Jack and he is doing an ego check, he is not a God. The fact that he has Vernon Reid (Living Colour) playing lead guitar and Bernie Worrell on the Hammond is definite plus for Bruce. The man always surrounds himself with the very best. When one of your first gigs was playing with Eric Clapton, where do you go from there? I think he has chosen his band mates very well over the years. This album is an utter work of genius combining rock, blues, jazz and world influences for a tastefully well-done smorgasbord of music. Even the rehashed "I Feel Free" and "Politician" sound sparkly new and refreshing. The best track is the curtain closer "Lost in the City (Jam Mix)," it is a flat out rockin' progressive-blues-rock workout. Surely, its one of the best tracks I have ever heard from Bruce. His voice sounds great, and although it has mellowed with age, he is a master at enunciating and putting proper emphasis on key words in a song. Jack Bruce has proven once again (as if he had to) that he is unequivocally one of the best bass players on earth, easily in the top five of active recording artists in the world today...

© Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck

Jack and his family wish all their friends and supporters warmest seasons greetings and a happy new year 2004. To receive so many kind wishes has helped Jack greatly with his recovery.  Jack is at home and he will be cooking Christmas dinner as always for his family!

The most recent issue of Rolling Stone Magazine has listed the Cream albums Fresh Cream and Disraeli Gears among the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", at numbers 101 and 112 respectively.

Jack's recordings with Kip Hanrahan are now available for order online.  Titles include Desire Develops an Edge, Exotica, and All Roads Are Made of Flesh. 

Jack is said to appear in a TV Rock & Roll documentary, Temples of Rock, that will air on the Travel Channel on Sunday, 30 November from 9:00 to 11:00 PM EST.

After being diagnosed with liver cancer in summer 2003, Jack Bruce has undergone a successful liver transplant.  Please send Jack  your get-well wishes in JackBruce.com's Get-Well Guestbook, set up separately from our usual guestbook specifically for that purpose.  For more information, see our Press Releases regarding the transplant.