Way back in 1993, before I’d ever heard Bruce Hornsby play live, I decided to make the 300-mile trip to London’s Jazz Cafe. I was without a wage, hadn’t been out in London on my own before, but felt the pull to hear Bruce Hornsby play live.
He’d just embarked on his post-Range phase, and retaining John Molo, took to Europe with Jimmy Haslip on bass and John “J.T.” Thomas on keyboards. It nearly didn’t happen – this was the first stop on tour. and a bird flew into their plane’s engine, badly delaying the start until past past 10pm.
They went straight from the airport to the stage, and played a three hour show. The BBC were there to record it, and the highlights were broadcast on Radio One a few weeks later.
Having endured a difficult first year away from home with Bruce’s first three cassettes for company, I’d built this night up as something huge in my mind, and set myself up to be let down. I did not leave disappointed.
Bruce remains a regular on the playlist of several presenters on BBC Radio. Fitting, since he broke in the UK with The Way It Is in 1986! Sir Terry Wogan can claim to have introduced Bruce to the public first.
Here’s the broadcast, hosted by Whispering Bob Harris.
Download Bruce Hornsby Jazz Cafe, London .. June 21 1993
01. Rainbow's Cadillac
» 5.1 MiB - 1,117 downloads
02. Jacob's Ladder > What a Time
» 7.2 MiB - 856 downloads
03. Long Tall Cool One
» 7.1 MiB - 818 downloads
04. Fields of Gray
» 4.8 MiB - 983 downloads
05. Pastures of Plenty
» 6.9 MiB - 832 downloads
06. Talk of the Town
» 5.4 MiB - 917 downloads
07. China Doll
» 6.6 MiB - 905 downloads
08. The Weight
» 5.6 MiB - 895 downloads
09. Valley Road
» 6.3 MiB - 928 downloads
1 comment
[…] Historically we’ve had some pristine recordings from the European shows, dating between 1995 and most recently in 2012. We even had a couple of BBC Radio 1 broadcasts with the band between 1988 and 1993 (see: Download: Bruce Hornsby and the Range, London 1988 and Download: Bruce Hornsby – Jazz Cafe, June 1993). […]