Bruce Hampton
| Bruce Hampton | |
|---|---|
Bruce Hampton in 2008, Blacksburg, VA Photo: Roger Gupta
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Gustav Berglund III |
| Born |
April 30, 1947 Knoxville, Tennessee, USA |
| Genres | Rock, fusion |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, actor |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1960s–present |
| Labels | Brato Ganibe, Capricorn, Columbia |
| Associated acts |
Hampton Grease Band Late Bronze Age New Ice Age Aquarium Rescue Unit The Fiji Mariners The Quark Alliance The Codetalkers The Pharaoh Gummitt The Madrid Express |
| Website | colbruce.com |
| Notable instruments | |
| Chazoid | |
Bruce Hampton (born Gustav Valentine Berglund III, April 30, 1947) is a surrealist American musician. In the late 1960s he was a founding member of Atlanta, Georgia's avant-garde Hampton Grease Band. Adopting the moniker Colonel Hampton B. Coles, Retired or alternatively Col. Bruce Hampton Ret., and sometimes playing a sort of dwarf guitar called a "chazoid", he later formed several other bands. Some of those band names include The Late Bronze Age, The Aquarium Rescue Unit, The Fiji Mariners, The Codetalkers, The Quark Alliance, Pharaoh Gummitt, and Madrid Express.
As a member of the Hampton Grease Band, Bruce Hampton helped record the 1971 album Music to Eat. The legend states this was the second-worst-selling album in Columbia Records history with the worst being a yoga record.
Hampton's band The Late Bronze Age consisted of Col. Hampton B. Coles, Ret. (Bruce Hampton) on vocals, slide guitar, mandolin, and chazoid; Ben "Pops" Thornton (Billy McPherson) on vocals, guitar, saxophones, and keyboards; Lincoln Metcalfe (Ricky Keller) on bass, guitar, brass, and vocals; and Bubba Phreon (Jerry Fields) on drums, percussion, trombone, and vocals. They performed several songs in the 1983 movie Getting It On.
Hampton helped start the 1990s seminal H.O.R.D.E. tours. The best known of his bands to play H.O.R.D.E. is the jazz-rock outfit Aquarium Rescue Unit which featured improvisational music all-stars Oteil Burbridge, Jimmy Herring, Rev. Jeff Mosier, Matt Mundy and Jeff Sipe.
In 1994, Hampton then formed the progressive rock/jazz duo Fiji Mariners and recorded two albums on Capricorn Records with Dan Matrazzo who simultaneously played keys, drums, and bass. Later, Ricky Fargo, Marcus Williams joined on drums and Joseph Patrick Moore joined on bass.
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