R.I.P. Col. Bruce Hampton

[Tequila Cowboy]

R.I.P. Col. Bruce Hampton. I guess if you have to go, being surrounded by friends and family and doing what you love isn't the worst way to go. Still though, damn.


https://www.jambase.com/article/jam-sce ... mpton-died

[Beaverdam]

I was watching the show last night. A buddy was streaming the show and projecting it on the side of his house. During the last song something happened suddenly. We thought perhaps fans had rushed the stage.

Now we know. This is sad, but I assume Col. Bruce died doing what he loved!

[Cubfan06]

In my mind, its difficult to envision a better story to the ending of his life than that. He had to have died so incredibly happy. He gave the signal to his 14 year old protege to take the last solo on Lovelight, amidst the many, many musicians and human beings that he had influenced and mentored. The absolute biggest of the jam community onstage (and some little known guys named Peter Buck and Mike Mills as well) .
It was really a strange scene last night via the live stream. Those critics that have been commenting that the band continued to play last night while Col Bruce was sprawled out on the amp must not be familiar with his stage antics. I hope that all that were in attendance both onstage and in the crowd can find peace in that Col Bruce died doing the very thing he loved.

I had the privilege to see him with both The Codetalkers as well as a sit in with Panic. His influence was much bigger than the music that he put out.

Art imitates life over and over. We all have our number called at some point. The way he lived his life and the way he passed were beautiful, spontaneous, and artistic. We should learn all learn from this. If you're not doing what you love and enjoying your days, move to that space and reside where you can find that happiness.

RIP Col Bruce

His last show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqeaETVBtMk

[Rocky]

Well said Cubfan.

What an expressive, innovative guy. The father of the entire jam scene. RIP.

[John A Arkansawyer]

If you're not doing what you love and enjoying your days, move to that space and reside where you can find that happiness.

It's harder to do than it should be, but I'm wondering if it isn't doable after all, even at my age. It's not like I have a lot left to lose.

[WarHenRecords]

Heartbroken.
GOAT human.
Will be missed and remembered fondly for many many years by many many people.
RIP Snake Anthony, His Grand Circumference. Parting the waters of the medulla oblongata of mankind.

[Hud]

totally speechless

[Hud]

I always loved this interview, all of it. I'm also a big Del McCoury fan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cb-YxV0mPs


when asked about new music,at around 8:30, about Jason Isbell, is so spot on, I grin ear ear to ear


Love you Col, you will be missed

[Rocky]

Thanks for posting that Hud. He was a quick witted, funny, spot on truthful guy.

[WarHenRecords]

Was inspired yesterday and wrote a tribute to the Col.

It's been a long time since I've been this moved by a musician's death. Not since Levon Helm, I think. Wanted to write a note about the wonderful Col. Bruce Hampton, who passed away last night. He was a cosmic leader of the unexplained, a celebrator of innovation & improvisation, an encourager of the abstract, a constant pusher of traditional boundaries, a springboard for & a bottomless pit of creativity, and a profound influence on & inspiration to so much of the music that I love. He cast a wide net, and those lucky enough to be caught within it, both musicians & fans, were changed for the better, both as musicians and as humans.

I'm grateful that I got to see him perform a handful of times, once with the incomparable Aquarium Rescue Unit (with special guest Branford Marsalis), his most notorious & celebrated outfit, twice with The Codetalkers (one of those was with Jimmy Herring at the old Starr Hill Music Hall, where I stood 5 feet from Bruce and was taken to school for 3 hours), and once during a collaborative jam featuring longtime musical compadres Jeff Sipe, Oteil Burbridge, Eric Krasno and a smattering of other notable players, all disciples of his poignant teachings. Those remain joyful, cathartic, memorable & important performances in what is a seemingly endless list of live shows I've witnessed. There was nothing like seeing a Col. Bruce Hampton show. Nothing. And there never will be. Those who saw him know what I'm talking about.

His loss is no doubt monumental, but I can't help but find an unbelievable amount of joy in the fact that even though he expired WHILE PERFORMING ON STAGE AT HIS OWN 70th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION, he expired while being surrounded by family, friends, fans and musicians, all of whom considered him godlike, or at the very least, other-worldly. He died doing EXACTLY what he loved, with everyone he loved, and with people who loved him. Poetic & cosmic, just like the Col. himself. He "reached Grease" as he liked to put it. He knew was he was doing. He always did, and he always will. People don't typically get to perform at their own wake, but of course the Col. did. Of course. The perfect ending to his unique & incredible life.

Rest In Space to His Grand Circumference. Snake Anthony. King Zambi. The man who gave us Music to Eat. Please continue to part the waters of the medulla oblongata of mankind from the outer & inner reaches of the cosmos, and remember to give thanks to Chank. You will most certainly be missed & remembered by many, many people.

Time Is Free.

[Ty Webb]

The Colonel had been playing his Thursday night residency about a mile from my house at The Vista Room. I went a handful of times but wish I'd gone more. Always easy to wish that in retrospect. I never had a bad time seeing him play music or chatting with him outside a venue. RIP, Bruce.

[Rocky]

Warhen I never thought about it like that. He performed at his own wake!

[Will]

The Colonel had been playing his Thursday night residency about a mile from my house at The Vista Room. I went a handful of times but wish I'd gone more. Always easy to wish that in retrospect. I never had a bad time seeing him play music or chatting with him outside a venue. RIP, Bruce.

We must be neighbors, I live a couple miles from there. They posted that his band his going to keep the Thursday night residency going in his honor. I think that's great.

[Cubfan06]

Phish drummer, Jon Fishman, of whom was onstage at the time of Col Bruce's passing, penned a really nice tribute towards the matter on Phish.Com

He made everybody comfortable in their own skin, and as a result it always brought out the best in all of them. That’s why he was always surrounded by so much excellence. Not just in music, but in humanity. In intent.

Bruce’s intent was love. Period. I never heard him put that word to it, but he was all about intent. His mantra was “Intent, Release and Recovery”, but everything always started with intent.

Over the 27 years I’ve known him, in basically every encounter I had with him or interaction I witnessed him in, the love in his intent was consistently among the purest and most powerful I have ever known. It was like a sun. Seriously. It had gravity. It created orbits. And for those of us who experienced it one way or the other, if perhaps even only from afar, it had more of an impact than we could have ever realized at the time. But whether we knew it or not, since the first time we encountered it, it altered us, changed us, touched us, affected us…and from that point forward it permeated our beings and has come through the music we play, the gigs we book, the articles we write, the concerts we promote, the audience members we are, the food we cook….the grace with which we handle the challenges of life.

He didn’t take most things too seriously (and that obviously rubbed off quite a bit on more than a few of us!), but for what he did, the degree of intention to his intent also meant that he was really not fuckin’ around. And at the pinnacle of his musical life, in front of a sold out crowd at arguably the most beautiful theater in the country, with a stage full of the most talented collective I’ve ever been a part of, ranging in age from our early teens to our mid 70’s, supported by equally talented promoters, managers, caterers etc,….ALL of whom were there because they LOVED the man for how good he made each and every one of them feel about whatever they brought to the table….he sang out one last time “let it shine, let it shine, let it shine” with all the love in his heart, and he meant every word just as he always did, but this time the intent overwhelmed the vessel.

As we were walking away from the venue in the shock and confusion of the moments after his collapse, a fellow musician posed the question,”Did he really just take it THERE?” Yep. Yes he did. He just took it there.

That was the Release. A lifetime’s worth of everything that a life as full as Bruce’s could contain.

Besides the consistency with which Bruce valued Intent and adhered to the Now he had an equally deep appreciation for good showmanship, and an extraordinary eye for talent. He being Exhibit A of the former, and absolutely all the members of the various bands he lead being examples of the latter. He also had a tremendous sense of humor which allowed him to embrace the ludicrousness of virtually everything with good nature and a deep laugh. I once asked him how the hell he put together band after band of the baddest mother*#%~!’s I’d ever seen on whatever instruments and his response was, “Fish, every band only needs one wrecking ball. They put it up and I tear it down!!”

Being that as it is, I find it virtually impossible to view the manner in which he departed as anything other than the ultimate theatrical accomplishment / practical joke / paradoxical, expressionistic heeeyyeeaarrrr whaaaaahhho ah! haa ha ha hhhaaaaaa….intended to elicit the entire range of human emotion and response in one fell swoop; to seamlessly transition from shine-ee to shine-er in one love intent filled moment leaving us all laughing, crying and astonished at the same time.

I just can’t help feeling that being in the moment, as always, he saw the opportunity to make it as real as it gets, comparable to nothing, and took it. And I believe he took it for our benefit, certainly not at our expense, because that could never be his intent. But still, to intend it is one thing… to actually pull it off?!?!

Viewed from this angle It’s certainly the greatest act of showmanship I expect to ever witness in my lifetime short of spontaneous combustion…which I hope to accomplish someday in his honor!

And therein, for me, lies the trick, the humor, the mystery, the essence of who Bruce was. This time, with all the love he could muster and what surely could have only been the best intent, he went “out” once again, but this time he didn’t come back. This time he left the Recovery to us, but not before turning the light he sang for around and giving us all a quick glimpse of the richness of our own humanity in its glow, and a lasting mental picture of what a roomful of good intent looks like.

I realize that not everyone will view the moment of his departure through the same celebratory and even humorous lens as I, but it is my intent that my words ring true in regards to who Bruce was/is, and that the love and appreciation I have tried to express for him and what he has brought to my life speaks to some degree to anyone else who knew him in whatever capacity, be it for a minute or a lifetime, and that it brings some measure of assistance to the healing process.

But if my words still leave any doubt as to whether the manner in which Bruce left was right in line with who he really was, and something to celebrate rather than lament, Bruce’s own words from a 1970 interview on the question, “What is Grease?” say it better than any of us ever could anyway: “See, our main ambition in life aside from growing a bosom on top of our heads is to die on stage and when we die on stage that will be when we ultimately reach Grease.”

Bruce, I hope that in whatever greasy reaches of the Omniverse your travels take you, your love light shines as brightly as it did here on earth. We will all miss you and we all thank you, sir, for your service.

Love, Fish

[Ty Webb]

The Colonel had been playing his Thursday night residency about a mile from my house at The Vista Room. I went a handful of times but wish I'd gone more. Always easy to wish that in retrospect. I never had a bad time seeing him play music or chatting with him outside a venue. RIP, Bruce.

We must be neighbors, I live a couple miles from there. They posted that his band his going to keep the Thursday night residency going in his honor. I think that's great.

Oh, nice! I'm right on the Sagamore Hills / Briarcliff Woods line, right next to the Beach Club. I'll definitely spend a few more Thursday nights down there from now on.