{"id":43014,"date":"2026-02-26T09:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T14:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=43014"},"modified":"2026-02-26T09:26:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T14:26:57","slug":"on-stage-sons-of-cream-keeping-the-music-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=43014","title":{"rendered":"On Stage: Sons of Cream keeping the music alive"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Denny Dyroff,<\/strong> Entertainment Editor, The Times<\/em><\/div>\n
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Sons of Cream<\/p><\/div>\n

It is often said that the ability to make music is in a person\u2019s genes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This weekend, Malcolm Bruce and Kofi Baker will come to the area for a much-anticipated show at the Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808,\u00a0www.st94.com<\/a>) and music is definitely in their genes<\/div>\n
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The British bassist and drummer are linked permanently by their families\u2019 DNA because their famous fathers \u2013 Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker — were musically linked in several bands over several decades.<\/div>\n
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Their London-based fathers first played together in Blues Incorporated in 1962.<\/div>\n

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In the early part of the decade, they also were members together in the Johnny Burech Octet in 1963 and the Graham Bond Organisation in 1963.<\/div>\n
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Much later, they were in the short-lived BBM which released its only album in 1994.<\/div>\n
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The major band which featured bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker \u2013 along with guitarist Eric Clapton — was Cream.<\/div>\n
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Often regarded as the first \u201csupergroup,\u201d Cream burst onto the scene in 1966 and produced many classic songs, including \u201cSunshine of Your Love\u201d and \u201cWhite Room.\u201d<\/div>\n
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The musicians who will be coming to the area to perform on February 28 at the Sellersville Theater are bassist Malcolm Bruce, Jack Bruce\u2019s son, and drummer Kofi Baker, Ginger Baker\u2019s son. The name of their band, which also features Baker\u2019s great-nephew Rob Johnson, is Sons of Cream.<\/div>\n
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\u201cMyself and Kofi got the band together,\u201d said Bruce, during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon from the road while travelling to a gig in New Haven, Connecticut.<\/div>\n
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\u201cRob, our guitarist, is Ginger Baker\u2019s sister\u2019s grandson.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThere have been three Cream projects with me and Kofi. The first was 12 years ago with Godfrey Townsend.\u201d<\/div>\n
Townsend performed and recorded with Jack Bruce and was also a key member of The Who\u2019s bassist John Entwistle\u2019s band.<\/div>\n
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\u201cAfter Gordon left, we moved on to play with Will Johns, who was Eric Clapton\u2019s nephew,\u201d said Bruce. \u201cThat second incarnation was the \u2018The Music of Cream: 50th Anniversary World Tour\u2019 about seven years ago.\u201d<\/div>\n
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The band came back to life in 2023.<\/div>\n
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\u201cBack in 2023, we talked about doing it again,\u201d said Bruce. \u201cSons of Cream did a tour of the U.K. in March 2024 followed by a U.S. tour later in the year \u2013 a tour that brought the trio to Sellersville.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe had tour of the states last year that took us all around the country with some dates on the East Coast.<\/div>\n
\u201cWe work on our own music and do our own thing. This project is just a celebration of our dads\u2019 music.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Cream was the musical equivalent of a Type II supernova \u2013 forming, igniting and disintegrating within a two-year period from 1966-1968.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWheels of Fire,\u201d the group\u2019s third album, was released in 1968 and became the world\u2019s first platinum-selling double album. As of now, Cream have sold more than 18 million copies of their albums worldwide.<\/div>\n
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Their music includes songs based on traditional blues such as \u201cCrossroads\u201d and\u00a0Spoonful,\u201d modern blues such as \u201cBorn Under a Bad Sign,\u201d and current material such as \u201cStrange Brew,\u201d \u201cI Feel Free,\u201d \u201cSunshine of Your Love,\u201d and \u201cWhite Room.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Unfortunately, there will never be a Cream reunion.<\/div>\n
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Baker never did and never would get along with his bandmates \u2013 especially Bruce — long enough to make it through a tour.<\/div>\n
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Baker passed away in 2019 at the age of 80\u00a0from complications of\u00a0COPD. Clapton has been involved in his own projects for years and Bruce passed away from liver disease in 2014.<\/div>\n
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Fortunately, the music of Cream lives on through the three original members\u2019 kin.<\/div>\n
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\u201cSons of Cream\u201d features master musicians whose lives have been steeped in the Cream spirit and are now celebrating that band\u2019s extraordinary legacy.<\/div>\n
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Kofi\u00a0Baker\u00a0first performed live with his father at age six on the BBC TV show,\u00a0The Old Grey Whistle Test. In the early \u201980s, the pair played drum duets throughout Europe, and since toured with Uli Jon Roth, Vinny Appice, Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple, and others.<\/div>\n
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Malcolm Bruce\u00a0began performing professionally at age 16 and has recorded and performed with his father. He\u2019s also played on recordings by Eric Clapton, Dr. John and Joe Bonamassa, among others.<\/div>\n
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Johnson is Ginger Baker\u2019s great-nephew.<\/div>\n
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\u201cMe and Kofi play intense,\u201d said Bruce. \u201cWe have a good understanding of each other\u2019s play.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Bruce, who has Scottish parents, grew up in England.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI live in London, but I spend a lot of time in Nashville and California,\u201d said Bruce. \u201cAnd, my girlfriend lives in Germany, so I spend a lot of time there too. Kofi lives in Indiana and Rob is from Liverpool.\u201d<\/div>\n
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\u201cOn this tour, we play two hour-long sets with a 15-minute intermission. We tell little stories and just share the songs \u2013 the best-known songs. We also play a couple Blind Faith songs, including \u2018Can\u2019t Find My Way Home.\u2019 It\u2019s a nice balanced set.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re not doing any of our originals in the show. It\u2019s not time yet. We play 14-15 Cream songs. And we do a lot of jamming \u2013 you create a staple and come back.<\/div>\n
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\u201cFrom the beginning, Kofi wanted to do this \u2013 taking the tradition of Cream in a new direction \u2013 taking polyrhythmic elements and making it his own.\u201d<\/div>\n
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By the end of the year, Sons of Cream will no longer just be a live band.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re in the process of making our first record,\u201d said Bruce. \u201cWe signed a record deal with Marshall Records, which is affiliated with Marshall amps.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt will be half-and-half \u2013 Cream covers and original songs. We started recording it last year at a studio in Milton Keynes.<\/div>\n
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\u201cEach of us also has been doing overdubs at our home studios. When we\u2019re ready, we\u2019ll master the record at Abbey Road.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIn the past year, we\u2019ve been pretty busy developing this project and gelling as a band. I\u2019ve got a lot of loyalty to this band.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Sons of Cream should not be mistakenly called a \u201ctribute band.\u201d<\/div>\n
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According to Bruce, \u201cWe don\u2019t really perceive ourselves as a tribute band because we\u2019re the actual kids of the original guys from Cream.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe grew up with them, we played music with them, and we learned from them.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful thing to celebrate my dad\u2019s music \u2013 but I also want to do stuff on my own.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Bruce has toured, performed, recorded and appeared on records with some of the biggest names in music including Little Richard, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Dr John, Steve Cropper, Joe Satriani, Joe Bonamassa, Bill Ward and Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath), Simon Phillips (Toto, The Who, Jeff Beck), Leslie West and Corky Laing (Mountain), and Tony Butler and Mark Brzezicki (Big Country).<\/div>\n
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The talented bassist released his debut album, \u201cSalvation,\u201d in 2017 — a collection of 10 songs recorded at Kevin McKendree\u2019s The Rock House Studio in Franklin, Tennessee.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI\u2019m currently working on a new album,\u201d said Bruce, \u201cIt\u2019s called \u2018Fake Humans.\u2019 I hope to have it out sometime later this year.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Video link for Sons of Cream –https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hyj6PpRRfss<\/a>.<\/div>\n
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The show at the Sellersville Theater on Saturday night will start at 8 p.m.<\/div>\n
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Ticket prices start at $45.<\/div>\n
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Other upcoming shows at the Sellersville Theater are Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys on February 26, Ben Arnold & James Maddock on February 27, Zeppelin Reimagined on March 1, Matisyahu on March 2 and Louisiana Calling with The Sonny Landreth Band & The Iguanas on March 4.<\/div>\n
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On February 26, the Colonial Theatre (227 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, thecolonialtheatre.com\/events<\/a>) will host a music legend — Mavis Staples.<\/div>\n
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Mavis Staples<\/p><\/div>\n

Mavis Staples, who was born in 1939, is an American\u00a0rhythm and blues\u00a0and\u00a0gospel\u00a0singer and\u00a0civil rights activist<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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She rose to fame as a member of her family’s band\u00a0— the Staple Singers. She is the last surviving member.<\/div>\n
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During her time in the group, she recorded the hit singles \u201cI\u2019ll Take You There\u201d and \u201cLet\u2019s Do It Again.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Staples is now touring in support of her new album, \u201cSad And Beautiful World.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Led by her father\u00a0Roebuck \u201cPops\u201d Staples,\u00a0the Staple Singers were major artists in gospel\u00a0and soul\u00a0music from 1957-1969. Commencing releasing albums as a solo artist in 1969, Mavis Staples has released 13 studio albums, two live albums, three compilations, one soundtrack, one EP, and 51 singles over a career spanning five decades.<\/div>\n
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“Sad And Beautiful World” is the latest solo album from a national treasure and multigenerational talent.<\/div>\n
On her new record, Staples stands side by side with us in the face of dangers she knows all too well, at a time when more and more people have reason to wonder who and what could be lost.<\/div>\n
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Video link for Mavis Staples — https:\/\/youtu.be\/zz_BL4xc_6U<\/a>.<\/div>\n
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The show at the Colonial Theatre will start at 8 p.m. on February 26.<\/div>\n
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Ticket prices start at $65.<\/div>\n
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Other upcoming acts at the Colonial Theatre are Hush on February 27 and Echoes on February 28.<\/div>\n
Kennett Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295, http:\/\/www.kennettflash.org<\/a>) is hosting Angry Young Band on February 27 and Riot Act on February 28.<\/div>\n
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Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center (226 North High Street, West Chester, www.uptownwestchester.org<\/a>) will present The Laugh Lounge on February 26 and Shadows of the 60\u2019s on February 28.<\/div>\n
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Jamey\u2019s House of Music (32 South Lansdowne Avenue, Lansdowne, 215-477-9985, www.jameyshouseofmusic.com<\/a>) will present A.C. Steel & the Perpetrators on February 26, The Outcrops on February 27, Ty Stephens and Souljazz on February 28 and The Philly Blues Kings featuring Clarence Spady on March 1.<\/div>\n
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Elkton Music Hall (107 North Street, Elkton, Maryland, www.elktonmusichall.com<\/a>) will host The Super 70\u2019s Rock Show featuring Super Trans AM on February 27 and Lower Wolves and Bright Paper Werewolves on February 28.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times It is often said that the ability to make music is in a person\u2019s genes. This weekend, Malcolm Bruce and Kofi Baker will come to the area for a much-anticipated show at the Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808,\u00a0www.st94.com) and music is definitely in their genes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7441],"tags":[6269,15624,15093],"class_list":["post-43014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-arts-entertainment","tag-featured","tag-mavis-staples","tag-sons-of-cream"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43014"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43020,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43014\/revisions\/43020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/43012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}