Col. Bruce Hampton Tickets

COL. BRUCE HAMPTON IN CONCERT:

Surrealist bandleader Col. Bruce Hampton plays a completely unique and riveting brand of jazz rock that combines breathtaking chops with ever-surprising changes of mood. Like the unpredictable eye of a hurricane, Hampton is just as likely to break out into howling blues as he is to start scatting absurdities in concert. The experience always shatters accepted musical norms, but his talented backing band The Aquarium Rescue Unit keeps his zany antics grounded in the fundamentals of jazz, rock, and funk. All these elements combine brilliantly on frenetic masterpieces like ÒFixinÕ to DieÓ and ÒBasically FrightenedÓ, which combine blues traditions and jazz smarts to create compulsively listenable music. Taking his bizarre vision on the road in 2015, Col. Bruce Hampton offers ticket buyers a one-of-a-kind show that fans of avant-garde jazz and blues wonÕt want to miss.

BACKGROUND SNAPSHOT:

Avant-garde pioneer Col. Bruce Hampton, aka Gustav Valentine Berglund III, is a legend of AtlantaÕs rock ÔnÕ roll scene. Starting with The Hampton Grease Band, he developed a reputation for extended instrumental improvisation and wacky onstage antics. After touring with bands like The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers, and Frank Zappa, The Hampton Grease Band released their only album Music to Eat in 1971. The band didnÕt receive much commercial attention and soon disbanded, but Music to Eat developed a cult following and Hampton became something of an elder statesman in the Atlanta music scene. For his solo career he enlisted the help of backing bands like The Late Bronze Age and The Aquarium Rescue Unit, which allowed him to influence new generations of musicians over the next several decades with a string of top-quality releases. He continues to tour and record both with his various backing ensembles and as a solo artist, and in 2014 he wowed fans and critics with the album PharaohÕs Kitchen.