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.

The London blues scene was something of a village in those days and Bruce and Baker put aside personal differences to team up with Eric Clapton to form Cream.

It took the music world by storm over the next few years, with Bruce revealing himself as an accomplished composer in tandem with beat poet Peter Brown. The pair wrote some timeless classics like Sunshine of Your Love, I Feel Free and Politician.

The relentless schedule of the band took its toll and eventually they split up but to get an idea of their brilliance, there’s a classic music documentary of their two extraordinary farewell concerts at the Royal Albert by Tony Palmer.

A succession of accomplished solo albums followed, again largely written with Brown. Bruce was in huge demand as a bass player and teamed up with Frank Zappa for one album and spent 18 months with the heavy rock band West, Bruce & Laing. He played in jazz fusion band Lifetime with Tony Williams and several Bruce-led ensembles including one with old mate Graham Bond.

All these bands produced memorable music which sells well to this day but at the time they lacked commercial success.

Early in the ’70s, Bruce had collaborated with Carla Bley, Michael Mantler and Kevin Coyne on the triple album Escalator Over the Hill and it was a partnership Bruce embraced again in his later years.

He formed a formidable musical partnership with Kip Hanrahan, whose band included an amazing Cuban rhythm section, and this pairing produced many fine albums. He also renewed his musical ties with Robin Trower.

Commercial pressures and money saw Bruce team up with Gary Moore and Carmen Appice in BBM and he made a stack of cash when Renault used I Feel Free to front an ad campaign. He also benefited from a Cream reunion concert where the cheapest seats were eye-wateringly expensive.

No obituary can do justice to the musical legacy of Jack Bruce. He played with everyone who mattered over the last 50 years and won world-wide acclaim.

While most will remember the Cream years, my mind goes back to 1964 and Bruce playing harmonica with The Organisation on Traintime at the Richmond Jazz & Blues Festival.

Cream turned the song into a 15-minute anthem but for me the sheer power of Jack Bruce with seminal musos like Baker Bond and Heckstall Smith gave me an introduction to all that is great about music.

I salute you for that Jack and all the other great musical moments you created. In a time a time of sorrow, your family can certainly stand proud of a tremendous, eternal musical legacy.