In Colonel Bruce Hampton`s world, music is music. The genre doesn`t matter as long as it`s good.
”I think Hank Williams is just as good as Muddy Waters and Moussorgsky,” Hampton said. ”They all have that same undefinable quality.” That philosophy also applies to the music that Hampton and his band, The Aquarium Rescue Unit, perform on their self-titled debut album.
Hampton`s music is a lot like a pizza. Take a warm doughy crust of blues, add some jazzy sauce and shredded rock `n` roll, then top with slices of country-or anything else you want.
”Most people call it progressive roots music,” Hampton said. ”We do blues, rock, country and jazz and throw it all into one.”
The album, recorded live at the Georgia Theatre in Athens, Ga., shows off this eclectic mix, with Hampton`s gruff, blues-inflected voice powering a mixture of organ, guitar and electric mandolin.
The 40-ish Hampton is a veteran musician who has been recording since the 1960s. The rest of the Aquarium Rescue Unit-guitarist Jimmy Herring, bass guitarist Oteil Burbridge, mandolin player Matt Mundy, conga player Count Mbutu and drummer Apt. Q258 (yes, that`s his name)-is relatively young.
Hampton said he enjoys working with younger musicians, although it can be disconcerting at times.
”They don`t know who John Kennedy was,” Hampton said. ”It`s funny. I can be talking about Whitey Ford and they won`t know who he is.”
But despite the age difference, the group is tightly knit, he said. ”I feel very closely connected to these guys. They`re really marvelous players.”
