Disharmony Row

Which was more unlikely? That Ginger Baker would agree to headline a tribute concert to the late Jack Bruce? Or that someone would screw things up to the point that Ginger walked off stage?

Both of these things happened last night at London's Roundhouse, a year on from Bruce's death.

The legendary drummer and the legendary bassist had enjoyed a legendary love-hate relationship for decades.

So the fact that Ginger was apparently prepared to bury the hatchet was remarkable.

The all-star line-up for the gig turned out to be less than starry... guitarists Bernie Marsden and Clem Clempson at least had some stature and relevance, but what were Hugh Cornwell and Joss Stone doing on the bill?

The only moments of real passion came from Ayanna Witter-Johnson (who, solo, played cello and sang a beautiful rendition of Rope Ladder To The Moon) and Jack's daughter Aruba Red (who sang a tear-stained version of Folk Song).

Aruba Red also successfully tackled We're Going Wrong, which introduced Mr Baker to the stage with the loudest applause of the evening.

But things started to turn sour immediately, as someone apparently had forgotten to amplify Ginger's hi-hat, which he uses jazz-style as a timekeeper. This was sorted and he continued to play thunderously beautiful tom-tom runs throughout the song.

But then came Sunshine Of Your Love, which Ginger kicked off, but then seemed to find himself being drowned out by the return of the house band's drummer to an over-amplified kit and more guitarists than it was sensible to put on one stage at the same time. He appealed several times for the sound of his kit to be brought up – without success. So he walked off mid-song.

Jack Bruce deserved better than this. And so did Ginger Baker. The organisers sold tickets on the basis that Ginger was going to play – and then appeared to ensure that he didn't.

But you could almost see Jack's ghost laughing as Ginger stormed off stage. Perhaps their partnership was always destined to end like this.

Jack And John

It's always great to see Jack Bruce. But to see him playing a pub gig? That's beyond the wildest of rock dreams... Except that it happened this week at The Half Moon, Putney, when the pre-eminent bassist guested with the awkwardly named Staxs soul big band to raise money for the charity Medicinema.

Bruce's voice and bass were on absolute top form for joyous versions of Born Under A Bad Sign, White Room and Sunshine Of Your Love.

But what made the night for me was that also there in the audience was the legendary John Marshall (drummer with the post-Cream Jack Bruce Band who played on part of Songs For A Tailor, and all of the tracks on Harmony Row, both among the greatest of rock albums).

Try as he did to keep a low profile, John was soon identified by Jack fans and spent a good deal of the evening chatting to gig-goers who couldn't believe their doubly good luck.