Free Radicals | |
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Background information | |
Origin | Houston, Texas, U.S. |
Genres | Jazz, funk, ska, reggae, klezmer, hip hop, world [1] |
Years active | 1996–present |
Members | Pete Sullivan Nick Cooper Al Bear Jacob Breier Chris Valero Jonathan Grantham Jason Jackson Muhammad Jafari Jon Durbin Nick Gonzalez Tavian Morgan [2] |
Website | www |
Free Radicals is an American band from Houston, Texas, that combines elements of several genres: jazz, funk, ska, reggae, hip-hop, African, and Indian music.
The Free Radicals live band includes six or seven members. [3] On recordings — The Rising Tide Sinks All (1998), Our Lady of Eternal Sunny Delights (2000), Aerial Bombardment (2004), and The Freedom Fence (2012) [4] — Free Radicals invites a group of 50 or more musicians and vocalists into the studio.
Drummer Nick Cooper founded the group in 1996, with a goal of specializing in improvised music. [3] In 2000, The New Yorker wrote, "The horn-heavy, continually evolving collective Free Radicals produces a wildly eclectic fusion that has as many influences as there are items in the Houston, Texas, pawnshop in which they honed their sound during all-night jam sessions." [5] In 2010, Dawn wrote that the artwork and message about underwater oil-leaks, oil-wars, and bank-crashes on the band's first CD was like a "premonition waiting to become true." [6] Free Radicals frequent collaborators and guest musicians include Al Pagliuso, Dan Cooper, Harry Sheppard, Gloria Edwards, Nelson Mills III, Subhendu Chakraborty, and Karina Nistal.
The Free Radicals perform many concerts, [7] marches, and fundraisers for anti-authoritarian and radical groups like food not bombs, peace festivals, and charity events including a continuous 24-hour concert in November 1999 to raise money for Kid Care, a health program for children. [8] They have protested against Halliburton, and participated in marches for immigrant rights and for a Houston janitor's union. [8]
Free Radicals has won the following 21 awards in Houston
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