Col. Bruce Hampton and The Aquarium Rescue Unit | |
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Background information | |
Origin | Atlanta, Georgia United States |
Genres | Jam band, [1] jazz fusion [2] |
Years active | 1988–1997, 2004–2007, 2015 |
Labels | Capricorn, Evil Teen Records, Velvet Dwarf Records, Inio Music |
Spinoffs | |
Spinoff of | |
Past members | Col. Bruce Hampton Jimmy Herring Oteil Burbridge Jeff Sipe Matt Slocum Jeff Mosier Charlie Leavell Chuck Williams Count M'Butu Matt Mundy Kofi Burbridge "Little John" Roberts Paul Henson Lee Venters |
Website | Official Website |
Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit was a jam band founded by Col. Bruce Hampton. [1] The band gained popularity in the Atlanta club scene in the early 1990s and went on to tour with the first H.O.R.D.E. Tour. During their formative years, the band was composed of Bruce Hampton, Oteil Burbridge, Jimmy Herring, Jeff Sipe, Matt Mundy, and Count M'Butu. Jeff Mosier and Charlie Williams were members of the band during the early years, but left to pursue other endeavors. Although the band was never commercially successful, their combination of bluegrass, rock, Latin, blues, jazz, funk, and impeccable chops became a template for future bands[ according to whom? ].
The band originated from a weekly Atlanta jam session hosted by Hampton (from the Hampton Grease Band and The Late Bronze Age) and eventually toured around the Southeastern United States with Hampton, Herring, Burbridge, Sipe, Mundy, and M'Butu. This lineup produced two albums released on Capricorn Records; Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit , in 1992, [3] and Mirrors of Embarrassment , in 1993.
During the summer of 1992, the group helped start the H.O.R.D.E. tour with such like-minded bands as Phish, Spin Doctors, Blues Traveler, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, and Widespread Panic. Members of these bands would frequently tour, perform, and record with one another. Béla Fleck and John Popper contributed on Mirrors of Embarrassment and Popper also contributed to The Benefit Concert Vol. 2. Chuck Leavell played on ARU's first two albums on Capricorn Records. Also, in 1992 Billy Bob Thornton directed the movie Widespread Panic: Live from the Georgia Theatre which features a music video for "Basically Frightened" performed by Col. Bruce Hampton & The Aquarium Rescue Unit with Chuck Leavell and Count M'Butu.[ citation needed ]
In 1993 the band lost two key members when Matt Mundy retired from the band and Hampton soon followed. Oteil, Herring and Sipe continued to tour as "The Aquarium Rescue Unit." The band had a rotating outer cast of members over the years, including lead vocalist Paul Henson; Oteil's brother, Kofi Burbridge on keyboards, flute, back-up vocals; and drummer Sean O'Rourke. They recorded additional studio albums as Aquarium Rescue Unit: 1994's eeePee and In A Perfect World , and 2003's The Calling .
The remaining original members started to leave as they received offers from other larger acts. Jeff Sipe joined with Jonas Hellborg and the late Shawn Lane in 1995, and over the years has played with Leftover Salmon, Susan Tedeschi, Phil Lesh, and Trey Anastasio. Currently Jeff Sipe is playing drums for Keller Williams's new band the WMDs. In 1997, Oteil Burbridge replaced Allen Woody in The Allman Brothers Band. Burbridge also played in Phish keyboardist Page McConnell's side project Vida Blue, on Trey Anastasio's Surrender to the Air, and in his own occasional project, Oteil And The Peacemakers. He continued to play with the Allman Brothers Band until the band officially broke up on 10/28/2014. During the last few years of his time with the Allman Brothers, Oteil was also a full-time member the Tedeschi Trucks Band. He was asked to fill the bass slot in the post-Fare Thee Well incarnation of The Grateful Dead when Phil Lesh decided he no longer wanted to tour. This project is called Dead & Company. Jimmy Herring co-founded Jazz Is Dead in 1998, then toured and recorded with supergroup Frogwings, The Allman Brothers Band, Project Z, Phil Lesh and Friends, and The Dead. In 2006 Herring was asked to join Widespread Panic with whom he has recorded and toured extensively.
In 2004 Hampton, Herring, Sipe, Burbridge and M'Butu reunited for several shows as the original Col. Bruce Hampton and Aquarium Rescue Unit. They continued with eight shows in Colorado and the Southeast between January 2006 and May 2007. Bobby Lee Rodgers of The Codetalkers was asked to sit in on banjo and vocals, taking the place of Matt Mundy who has retired from performing.
By 2007 each member of the original lineup was an accomplished artist in their own right: Herring with Widespread Panic, Burbridge with two bands: The Allman Brothers Band and Oteil and The Peacemakers, Sipe with Trey Anastasio and Leftover Salmon, M'Butu with The Derek Trucks Band, and Hampton with Col. Bruce & The Quark Alliance.
Aquarium Rescue Unit reunited for the reopening of the Georgia Theatre in Athens, Georgia, on August 8, 2011. The lineup included Col. Bruce Hampton, Jimmy Herring, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Sipe and Matt Slocum on keyboards. [4]
On March 24, 2015, via Facebook, [5] Col. Bruce Hampton announced the band was getting back together for shows scheduled for summer 2015. The band returned to the lineup of Hampton, Oteil Burbridge, Jimmy Herring, Matt Slocum and Jeff Sipe. [6]
Phil Lesh and Friends is an American rock band formed and led by Phil Lesh, former bassist of the Grateful Dead.
Jimmy Herring is an American guitarist, known as the lead guitarist for the band Widespread Panic since 2006. He is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit and Jazz Is Dead and has played with The Allman Brothers Band, Project Z, Derek Trucks Band, Phil Lesh and Friends, and The Dead.
Oteil Burbridge is an American multi-instrumentalist, specializing on the bass guitar, trained in playing jazz and classical music from an early age. He has achieved fame primarily on bass guitar during the resurgence of the Allman Brothers Band from 1997 through 2014, and as a founding member of the band Dead & Company. Burbridge was also a founding member of The Aquarium Rescue Unit and Tedeschi Trucks Band, with whom his brother Kofi Burbridge was the keyboardist and flautist. He has worked with other musicians including Bruce Hampton, Trey Anastasio, Page McConnell, Bill Kreutzmann and Derek Trucks.
Bruce Hampton was an American musician. He was a key figure in the Atlanta, Georgia music scene, mentoring numerous other musicians who became national stars. His own musical style was avant-garde, combining elements of jazz, fusion, southern rock and jam band styles.
The Codetalkers were an American jazz fusion and rock and roll band from Savannah, Georgia, active from 1999 to 2009. Known for their blend of jazz, rock, blues, bluegrass, and funk, the band gained popularity in the jam band scene for their improvisational live performances and on-stage antics. The Codetalkers were formed by Bobby Lee Rodgers, a former professor at Berklee College of Music, following his meeting with Col. Bruce Hampton at a show in Atlanta.
In a Perfect World is a 1994 studio album by the Aquarium Rescue Unit. It was the band's first studio album, following two live releases, and their first record following the departure of former frontman Bruce Hampton.
Col. Bruce & The Quark Alliance is a band formed in 2006 by musician Bruce Hampton that recorded and toured through 2010. Hampton has been a part of the Southern music scene since the 1960s fronting such acts as The Hampton Grease Band, The Late Bronze Age, The Aquarium Rescue Unit, and The Fiji Mariners.
"Basically Frightened" is a song written by Col. Bruce Hampton, Tinsley Ellis and Ricky Keller. The song was first recorded and released on Col. Bruce Hampton's 1986 solo album "Arkansas" on Landslide Records.
Jeff Sipe, also known as Apt. Q258, is an American drummer. He works mainly in rock and jazz fusion. He is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit with Bruce Hampton. He was a member of Leftover Salmon and the Zambiland Orchestra, an experimental big band with members of Phish and Widespread Panic. He has toured with Trey Anastasio, Jeff Coffin, Jimmy Herring, Warren Haynes, Keller Williams, John McLaughlin, and guitarist Shawn Lane.
Wanee Festival was an annual event held 2005 - 2018 at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, in Live Oak, Florida. The festival was hosted by the Allman Brothers Band until 2014 and was managed by Live Nation. On November 5, 2018, it was announced via the Wanee website that the festival would not be occurring at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in 2019, citing the religious holidays of Easter and Passover as the reason the festival was cancelled. No plans for future Wanee Festivals have been announced.
Curated and presented by Grammy Award-winning vocalist-songwriter and revered guitarist Warren Haynes, the Christmas Jam is a one-of-a-kind music marathon. Since its inception in 1988, the concert has provided an opportunity for the performing artists, audience and the local community to give back during the holiday season. Over the past 18 years, Haynes - an Asheville native - has worked closely with the Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity.
Matthew Dutot Slocum is a keyboardist who collaborates predominantly with southern jazz, funk, fusion and blues musicians. He has worked with Susan Tedeschi, Widespread Panic guitarist Jimmy Herring, Allman Brothers bassist Oteil Burbridge, The Magpie Salute, and Railroad Earth among many others.
Lockn' Festival, first known as Interlocken Music Festival, was an annual four-day music festival held at Oak Ridge Farm near Arrington in Nelson County, Virginia. The festival focused primarily on jam bands and other music improvisation acts. Its inaugural event took place September 5–8, 2013, drew nearly 25,000 fans and featured notable groups such as Furthur, Trey Anastasio Band, Gov't Mule, Widespread Panic featuring John Fogerty, The String Cheese Incident featuring Zac Brown, and The Black Crowes.
Kofi Burbridge was an American keyboardist and flautist of the blues and blues rock group Tedeschi Trucks Band.
Mirrors of Embarrassment is an album by the American band Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit. It is dedicated to Wayne Bennett.
Col. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit is a live album by the band of the same name. It was recorded at the Georgia Theatre in Athens, Georgia, and was released in 1992 by Capricorn Records. On the album, band leader Bruce Hampton is joined by guitarist Jimmy Herring, mandolin player Matt Mundy, keyboard player Chuck Leavell, bassist Oteil Burbridge, conga player Count Mbutu, and drummer Jeff Sipe, listed as "Apt. Q-258."
Project Z is the debut album by the band of the same name. It was recorded at Southern Living At Its Finest in Atlanta, Georgia, and was released in 2001 by Terminus Records. On the album, core Project Z members Jimmy Herring (guitar), Ricky Keller (bass), and Jeff Sipe (drums) are joined by guest artists Rev. Oliver Wells (keyboards), Derek Trucks, Count M'Butu (congas), and Col. Bruce Hampton.
Arkansas is an album by Col. Bruce Hampton. It was recorded at Southern Living Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, and was released on LP in 1987 by Landslide Records. In 2000, Terminus Records reissued the album on CD. On the album, Hampton is joined by a large group of guest musicians.
The Calling is an album by the Aquarium Rescue Unit. The band's second record following the departure of former frontman Bruce Hampton, it was recorded in 2000 at Exocet Studio in Atlanta, Georgia, and was released in 2003 by Inio Music. The album features guitarist Jimmy Herring, keyboardist and flutist Kofi Burbridge, bassist Oteil Burbridge, vocalist Paul Henson, and drummer Sean O'Rourke, plus a number of guest musicians.
Lifeboat is an album by guitarist Jimmy Herring. His first release as a leader, it was recorded in Georgia, United States, and was issued by Abstract Logix in 2008. On the album, Herring is joined by keyboardist and flutist Kofi Burbridge, bassist Oteil Burbridge, and drummer Jeff Sipe, along with guest musicians Greg Osby (saxophone), Derek Trucks, Bobby Lee Rodgers, Ike Stubblefield (organ), Scott Kinsey (organ), Matt Slocum (keyboards), and Tyler Greenwell (drums).