RIP Jack Bruce, 1943-2014

I didn't find out about this until about three hours ago. He died Saturday...liver disease. He had cancer about a decade ago and received a transplant, which allowed him to play those Cream reunion dates at MSG and Royal Albert Hall in 2005. I was going to drag my brother (who'd seen them back in '68) to one of the NY shows until I found the cheapest seats available were $1,500. So long, Jack. You wrote some of my favorite tunes. Farewell:

Winter Of Our Discontent: Johnny Winter 1944-2014

The Whitest White boy to ever come out of Texas, Old Man Winter, as he liked to call himself, died in his hotel in Zurich Switzerland while on a European tour. He was 70.
He and his jazz prodigy brother Edgar both shot to fame in their 20s, and though they took different msical paths, they relived their early trio days every now and then--Like on Edgar's Roadwork tour.

Though he will always be remembered for his covers of Highway 61 Revisited, Johnny B. Goode, Jumpin' Jack Flash, and his breakout hit (above) Mean Town Blues, he'd probably say th most important thing he did was producing--and arranging--a set of Grammy Award-winning albums with Muddy Waters that reintroduced him to an entirely new audience.

So long, Johnnie, it was a hell of a ride.