Project Z

Started by errnum, 09/03/2009 01:26AM
Posted 09/03/2009 01:26AM Opening Post
If you like jazz/funk and blinding guitar work, this youtube video might be interesting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzxfyLfhwwQ

If the musical intro seems tiresome, fast forward and listen from about 2:00 before you give up on it. That is where guitarist Jimmy Herring starts doing his thang.

There is a large cluster of Atlanta musicians loosely associated with Col Bruce Hampton as the nominal hub and spiritual leader, with history going back to the late 1960's. A long time ago I'd hang out with some of those guys. They have just been 'doin that thang' forever.

This Project Z outfit was one of many relatively-short-lived bands taken from that big sub-set of musicians. This band doesn't contain Col Bruce. Went internet-looking for an old high school bud Ricky Keller and discovered he had died a few years back. He was a multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer/producer many years in Atlanta but I hadn't talked with Ricky for years. Ricky plays bass in the Project Z video.

Most of these guys are still active. Very good musicians.

If you go searching Bruce Hampton videos, you need a certain warped taste and sense of humor to appreciate the musical incarnations which include Col Bruce. Bruce is probably schizophrenic, or at least he gives a good simulaton. Those guys have a certain warped sense of humor that might be pretty unique to Atlanta, though Austin has some of that too.

Bruce has a lot of Atlanta fans, but if he is actually up on stage it typically degenerates into crazy weird. Bruce isn't what one would consider a fabulous player, but he seems to attract talented players that love him. They always have fun. But if looking for not-quite-so-weird videos, you would search for videos of his friends when Bruce wasn't up on stage. Bruce is kinda an Atlanta version of Captain Beefheart.

This video clip is at an Augusta GA concert, James Brown's home town. "Augusta's Ankle" contains many brief musical references to James Brown riffs and beats. I like it.