JACK BRUCE, who has died aged 71, was undoubtedly the greatest bassist this country has ever seen. Primarily a jazz musician, he is best known for his time with the first rock supergroup Cream.

Bruce was a childhood prodigy and studied cello and composition at the Scottish Academy of Music. 

Told to stop playing jazz or leave, Bruce found himself at the Ealing Jazz and Blues Club in 1962 playing double bass as a member of Blues Incorporated with Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies. After the demise of that group, he teamed up with Graham Bond, Ginger Baker and John McLaughlin in a quartet which later became the Graham Bond Organisation.