Editing Jack Bruce (section)

===1970s: Post-Cream===
Collaborative efforts with musicians, in many genres – [[hard rock]], [[jazz]], [[blues]], [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]], [[jazz fusion|fusion]], [[avant-garde music|avant-garde]], [[world music]], [[third stream|third stream classical]] – continued as a theme of Bruce's career. Alongside these he produced a long line of highly regarded solo albums. In contrast to his collaborative works, the solo albums usually maintain a common theme: melodic songs with a complex musical structure, songs with lyrics frequently penned by Pete Brown and a core band of world-class musicians. This structure was loosened on his live solo albums and DVDs, where extended improvisations similar to those employed by Cream in live performance were sometimes still used.

In August 1968, before Cream officially disbanded, Bruce recorded a semi-acoustic [[free jazz]] album with [[John McLaughlin (musician)|John McLaughlin]], [[Dick Heckstall-Smith]] and [[Jon Hiseman]].<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/> This was issued in 1970 as Bruce's second solo album, ''[[Things We Like]]''. The album was a precursor to the [[jazz fusion]] boom in the early 1970s.

Bruce's first solo release, ''[[Songs for a Tailor]]'', was issued in September 1969; it too featured Heckstall-Smith and Hiseman.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/> It was a worldwide hit and also showcased Jack's ability as a gifted pianist, but after a brief supporting tour backed by [[Larry Coryell]] and [[Mitch Mitchell]], Bruce joined the [[jazz fusion]] group [[The Tony Williams Lifetime|Lifetime]], with drummer [[Tony Williams (drummer)|Tony Williams]], guitarist McLaughlin, and organist [[Larry Young (musician)|Larry Young]], for its second album, ''[[Turn It Over]]'' (1970). For the group's third album, ''[[Ego (Tony Williams Lifetime album)|Ego]]'' (1971), [[Ron Carter]] replaced Bruce on bass, but Bruce contributed a guest vocal. Bruce then recorded his third solo album ''[[Harmony Row]]'', but this was not as commercially successful as ''Songs for a Tailor''.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/> The song "The Consul at Sunset" from ''Harmony Row'', which was inspired by the [[Malcolm Lowry]] novel ''[[Under the Volcano]]'', was released as a single in 1971 (Polydor 2058–153, b/w "A Letter of Thanks"), but did not chart.

[[File:Jack Bruce Hamburg 1972.jpg|thumb|left|Bruce performing in Hamburg, January 1972.]]
In 1972 Bruce formed a [[blues rock]] [[power trio]], [[West, Bruce & Laing]]. Besides Bruce, the group included singer/guitarist [[Leslie West]] and drummer [[Corky Laing]], both formerly of the Cream-influenced American band [[Mountain (band)|Mountain]]. West, Bruce & Laing produced two studio albums, ''[[Why Dontcha]]'' and ''[[Whatever Turns You On (album)|Whatever Turns You On]]'', and one live album, ''[[Live 'n' Kickin' (West, Bruce and Laing album)|Live 'n' Kickin']]''.

The band's breakup was announced shortly before ''Live 'n' Kickin''{{'}}s release in early 1974, and Bruce released his fourth solo album ''[[Out of the Storm (Jack Bruce album)|Out of the Storm]]'' later that year. Also in 1974 he featured on the title track of [[Frank Zappa]]'s album ''[[Apostrophe (')]]'', recorded in November 1972. Bruce was credited with bass and co-authorship on the improvised track. When asked about Zappa in a 1992 interview, Bruce tried to change the subject and jokingly insisted that he had played only cello parts. Outtakes from the session were released on the archival release ''The Crux Of The Biscuit'' in 2016. In 1973 Bruce recorded bass guitar for [[Lou Reed]]'s ''[[Berlin (Lou Reed album)|Berlin]]'' album, playing on all but two tracks.

A 1975 tour was lined up to support the ''Out of the Storm'' album with a band featuring former [[Rolling Stones]] guitarist [[Mick Taylor]] and [[jazz]] keyboard player [[Carla Bley]], with whom he had collaborated in 1971 on ''[[Escalator over the Hill]]''. The tour was belatedly documented on ''[[Live at Manchester Free Trade Hall '75]]'' (2003),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cloudsandclocks.net/CD_reviews/bruceband_live75_E.html |title=The Jack Bruce Band: Live '75 – review |website=Cloudsandclocks.net |date=10 June 2003 |access-date=11 December 2012 |archive-date=16 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516144420/http://www.cloudsandclocks.net/CD_reviews/bruceband_live75_E.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> but it ended with Taylor's departure, and sessions for a studio album were abandoned. During the next year, Bruce only resurfaced to play on [[Charlie Mariano]]'s ''Helen 12 Trees'' album.

In 1976, Bruce formed a new band (The Jack Bruce Band) with drummer [[Simon Phillips (drummer)|Simon Phillips]] and keyboardist [[Tony Hymas]]. The group recorded an album, called ''[[How's Tricks]]''. A world tour followed, but the album was a commercial failure.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/> The follow-up album, ''[[Jet Set Jewel]]'', was rejected at the time by Bruce's record label [[RSO Records|RSO]] as not being marketable, and RSO ultimately dropped Bruce from their roster. In 1979 he toured with members from the [[Mahavishnu Orchestra]], reuniting him with John McLaughlin, and introducing him to drummer [[Billy Cobham]]. A 3-CD collection of his 1970s [[BBC]] recordings, entitled ''Spirit'', was released in 2008.