Jack Bruce and Robin Trower - Seven Moons Live (Ruf) For many followers of late sixties / early seventies blues rock, the pairing of bassist Jack Bruce and guitarist Robin Trower was something of a dream ticket, and their decision to tour together for the first time earlier this year was greeted with rapturous enthusiasm (at least by men of a certain age). This disc, the fourth of their intermittent 25 year association, records for posterity their third ever gig in the Dutch town of Nijmegen, and comprises most of their last studio release (hence the title), plus Cream classics such as “Sunshine of Your Love” and “Politician”. The tone set in the opening “Seven Moons”, of Bruce and drummer Gary Husband (Gary Moore Band, John McLaughlin) laying down a formidably robust rhythm against which Trower pits interesting but carefully measured psychedelic diversions, is pretty much maintained throughout. Trower never was the “white Hendrix” US critics crudely dubbed him, and to his credit he isn’t the narcissist Clapton either. Vindicating those who felt his most accomplished work was to be found within the structural restraints of Procol Harum (see “The Milk of Human Kindness” from “A Salty Dog”) he deploys an admirable discipline here, adding autumnal richness rather than vivid colour to Bruce’s world weary storytelling. While this collection will be instantly snapped up by the committed, it’s also worth investigating by those who haven’t really given Bruce a second thought since “Songs for a Taylor”. There’s no doubt that it’s he who is calling the shots here, and frankly he’s rarely sounded more convincing. On songs such as “Distant Places of the Heart” and “Bad Case of Celebrity” there is a chilling gravity, which seriously challenges the established and better-known material of his much-feted earlier outfit, offering a subtle hint as to where the serious talent lay. www.rufrecords.de Neil B. Next