Jack Bruce Is Hoping for Another Rise to the Top With New Album

Jack Bruce, whose album, “A Question of Time,” was recently released by Epic Records, is remembered as the bassist, with guitarist Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker, in Cream.

“Cream was together 2 1/2 years, 1967 to ‘69,” Bruce says. “To me, that was just one of my projects. I started professionally when I was 17, when I left college and went on the road.

“Cream happened, and that gave me the possibility to do what I wanted to do musically. I could make records saying things that for me were important. A surprising amount of people--not millions of people--all over the world followed my records over the years. Then the music business changed.

“This is an attempt by me to make a record that is honest and commercial. It’s not an easy thing to do these days. It is worth a shot. If it fails, I’ll just have to become a brain surgeon.”

“A Question of Time” is Bruce’s first record for a major label in nine years. He says: “When I decided to get off my rear, I thought, ‘I’ll call a record company and get a deal.’ I found out it wasn’t so easy.

“I’d guested on records and played lots of concerts. What I had stopped doing was making records. It’s quite difficult nowadays, if it was ever easy, to get in a recording studio.” Two years ago in London, Bruce also did his first acting, in “The Tooth of Crime.”

Michael Caplan, a vice president for artists and repertory, signed Bruce to Epic. “He’s a great bloke,” Bruce says. “He took a chance on me. For me, the record is an end in itself.

“I would love it to be a big hit. I would like to make a record every year. We’re going to tour in November and December, I hope.”

After Cream folded, Bruce says, “I could have formed another trio and made zillions of money. When Blind Faith (Clapton, Baker and Steve Winwood) was at Madison Square Garden, I was at Sluggs.

“That was a conscious decision --a working-class guilt thing. I was never happy with the money. The class thing in Britain is very strong. You can move to a mansion; you’re still working-class.” Bruce was born in Glasgow, Scotland, where his father worked in a factory.

Asked why he decided to make this record, Bruce says: “When I was listening to music, I couldn’t hear what I wanted to hear. I thought, ‘If nobody else is doing it, I better do it myself.”