Banjo Jam w/Col. Bruce Hampton & pre-ARU, Jimmy Herring, Jeff Sipe, Oteil Burbridge-1989
Excerpts that a friend recorded of my playing banjo with Col. Bruce Hampton and early pre-Aquarium Rescue Unit in Sept 1989. This was an intermediary stage of ARU. A strange evolution led to this gig. I was a long time fan of Col. Bruce, primarily of "The Late Bronze Age" LP; I met him the first time when I was loading his band's gear on an airline I used to work for, ran upstairs and expressed my deep admiration. I later met Oteil Burbridge while I was playing a party at the Grapes house in Little Five Points. Later again, I then went to see Bruce one night at The Little Five Points Pub and the band was in transition, that night was with Charlie Williams on Guitar, Oteil on bass, and Jeff Sipe on drums. Afterwards, Bruce and I talked a long time about our common musical interests and then Bruce told me I had to hear this cat named Jimmy Herring. Oteil walked up, remembered me from playing at the Grapes house party at which point Bruce told Oteil, "oh we already met one day at the airport". Funny how things happen, but later Bruce gave me a call and asked me to come sit in for the night with them at the Little Five Points Pub, no rehearsal, Bruce said relax, do your thing, and feel free to participate in whatever craziness might ensue. Little did I know that Jimmy Herring was to be there that night as well. Memory may fail me, but I believe that was Jimmy's first gig with the Colonel that night too. Needless to say, it was one of the most freeing nights of musical improvisation I had ever experienced. Mixed in amongst moments of musical nirvana, the Colonel would go into sermonesque monologues accompanied by bizarre chicanery in the background, with Jeff dropping bundles of drumsticks on cymbals/drums, Oteil dressed in a ballerina tutu, lots of dissonance, experimentation, then bam, it would segue into another tune. It went from tune to tune just that way that night. Jimmy was smokin' on guitar, it was a treat swapping licks with him and feeding off of the incredible drumming of Jeff Sipe, and the percolating bass syncopations of Oteil. This was all before Matt Mundy came onboard and they later got signed to Capricorn, did the HORDE tour, and the rest is history. Ah, the memories...there's more but I'll suffice to leave it at that.
All the pictures in the slideshow are personal pics and/or artwork of mine, with the exception of one shot of Oteil, another of Jeff Sipe, and a couple pics pilfered off the net of a contortionist and a theory of evolution. The sound quality is mediocre at best but hope you enjoy nonetheless.........
http://www.colbruce.com/
http://jimmyherring.net/
http://www.oteilburbridge.com/
http://www.oteil.net/
http://jeffsipemusic.com/