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Col. Bruce Hampton, RIP


jeffcrom

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The unclassifiable Atlanta music legend Bruce Hampton collapsed last night during the last song of his 70th birthday tribute show at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. He died soon afterwards.

http://www.11alive.com/news/atlanta-artist-bruce-hampton-collapses-on-fox-theatre-stage-dies-after-tribute/435937558

Col. Bruce's music can be described as improvisational avant rock, I guess. I'll miss him.

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I'm sad that the Colonel is gone. I will miss him, and I'm sure others will too.  

But what a great legacy! So much wonderful music. 

I was planning to attend the show last night, but some things came up and I couldn't make it.  A big part of me wishes that I'd been there to hear the music.  But another, bigger part of me is glad that I didn't see his end. I'd rather my memories of him on stage be nothing other than LIFE, full-tilt and full-speed ahead.
 

CBH_.png

 

Edited by HutchFan
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Yes - I talked to a friend today who was close to Bruce, an Atlanta music writer who was at the concert. He said that when Hampton fell onto the stage, there was no doubt in anybody's mind that it was part of the show. John Popper, who was on stage playing harmonica, was the first person to realize that something was wrong. Even after Popper and a couple of stagehands turned Bruce over and it was apparent that he was unresponsive, the audience was hoping that it was still part of Bruce's flair for the dramatic. My friend said that for most of the audience, it wasn't until they walked out of the theater and saw the ambulance that they realized how serious the situation was.

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I want to emphasize how much joy Col. Bruce brought to Atlanta and the world. I've been listening to lots of his music today, and I remarked to my wife what a happy, upbeat-sounding song is "Basically Frightened," the lyrics of which are about fear and paranoia.

And I'll never forget an evening back in the 1980s, when a band I was in opened for Hampton's band at the time, The Late Bronze Age. Chick Corea and the Elektric Band had played the club the nght before, and Corea had apparently distributed flyers titled "Rules for Musicians." Hampton's bassist, Ricky Keller (now also gone) found one of these papers; he read each rule in turn while the band interpreted them. The only one I remember all these years later was, "Do not bang on or abuse your instrument." You can only imagine what the next two minutes sounded like..

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