Aquarium Rescue Unit
Encyclopedia
Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit is an experimental rock
group originally founded by Col. Bruce Hampton
. The band gained popularity in the Atlanta club scene in the early 1990s and went on to tour with the first H.O.R.D.E.
Tour. During the initial years, the band was composed of Bruce Hampton, Oteil Burbridge
, Jimmy Herring
, Jeff Sipe
, Matt Mundy, and Count M'Butu. Jeff Mosier and Charlie Williams were both members of the band during the early years, but left to pursue other endeavors. Although the band was never commercially successful, their combination of bluegrass
, rock
, Latin, blues, jazz
, funk
, and impeccable chops became a template for future bands.
and The Late Bronze Age
) and eventually toured around the Southeastern United States with Hampton, Herring, Burbridge, Sipe, Mundy, and M'Butu. This lineup produced two albums released on Capricorn Records
; Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit, in 1992, and Mirrors of Embarrassment, in 1993.
During the summer of 1992, the group helped start the H.O.R.D.E. tour
with such like-minded bands as Phish
, Spin Doctors
, Blues Traveler
, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, and Widespread Panic
. Members of these bands would frequently tour, perform, and record with one another. Béla Fleck
and John Popper
contributed on Mirrors of Embarrassment and Popper also contributed to The Benefit Concert Vol. 2. Chuck Leavell
played on ARU's first two albums on Capricorn Records
. Also in 1992 Billy Bob Thornton
directed the movie Widespread Panic: Live from the Georgia Theatre which features a music video for "Basically Frightened
" performed by Col. Bruce Hampton & The Aquarium Rescue Unit with Chuck Leavell
and Count M'Butu.
. They recorded additional studio albums as Aquarium Rescue Unit: 1994's eeePee and In A Perfect World, and 1997's The Calling
.
The remaining original members started to leave as they received offers from other larger acts. Jeff Sipe
joined with Jonas Hellborg
and the late Shawn Lane
in 1995, and over the years has played with Leftover Salmon
, Susan Tedeschi
, Phil Lesh
, and Trey Anastasio
. Currently Jeff Sipe is playing drums for Keller Williams
's new band the WMDs. In 1997, Oteil Burbridge
replaced Allen Woody
in The Allman Brothers Band
. Burbridge also played in Phish keyboardist Page McConnell
's side project Vida Blue
, as well as on Trey Anastasio
's Surrender to the Air
. He is still playing with the Allman Brothers Band while writing, recording and touring with his own band, Oteil and the Peacemakers and now with Tedeschi Trucks Band
. Jimmy Herring
co-founded Jazz Is Dead
in 1998, then toured and recorded with supergroup
Frogwings, the Allman Brothers Band, Project Z
, Phil Lesh and Friends
, and The Dead
. In 2006 Herring was asked to join Widespread Panic
with whom he has recorded and toured extensively.
was asked to sit in on banjo
and vocals, taking the place of Matt Mundy who is doing well but has retired from performing.
By 2007 each member of the original lineup was an accomplished artist in their own right: Herring with Widespread Panic
, Burbridge with two bands: The Allman Brothers Band
and Oteil and The Peacemakers, Sipe with Trey Anastasio
and Leftover Salmon
, M'Butu with The Derek Trucks Band
, and Hampton with Col. Bruce
& The Quark Alliance
.
Indications are the original Aquarium Rescue Unit will play more dates in the future, but the busy schedule of each member makes the next show difficult to predict.
Aquarium Rescue Unit reunited for the reopening of the Georgia Theatre in Athens, GA on August 8, 2011. The lineup included Col. Bruce Hampton, Jimmy Herring, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Sipe and Matt Slocum on keyboards.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
group originally founded by Col. Bruce Hampton
Bruce Hampton
Bruce Hampton is a surrealist American musician. In the late 1960s he was a founding member of Atlanta, Georgia's avant-garde Hampton Grease Band...
. The band gained popularity in the Atlanta club scene in the early 1990s and went on to tour with the first H.O.R.D.E.
H.O.R.D.E.
Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere or H.O.R.D.E. Festival was a touring summer rock music festival originated by the musical group Blues Traveler in 1992. In addition to travelling headliners, the festival gave exposure to bands, charities, and organizations from the local area of the...
Tour. During the initial years, the band was composed of Bruce Hampton, Oteil Burbridge
Oteil Burbridge
Oteil Burbridge, in Washington, D.C.), is a Grammy Award-nominated American multi-instrumentalist, specializing on the bass guitar, trained in playing jazz and classical music from an early age. He has achieved fame primarily on bass guitar during the current resurgence of the Allman Brothers Band...
, Jimmy Herring
Jimmy Herring
Jimmy Herring is an American guitarist who is currently the lead guitarist in the band Widespread Panic. Herring is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit and Jazz is Dead...
, Jeff Sipe
Jeff Sipe
Jeff Sipe is an American drummer. He is a rock and jazz fusion drummer, however, he is proficient in many other styles which he has demonstrated in his decades of drumming. He is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit along with Col. Bruce Hampton...
, Matt Mundy, and Count M'Butu. Jeff Mosier and Charlie Williams were both members of the band during the early years, but left to pursue other endeavors. Although the band was never commercially successful, their combination of bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
, rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, Latin, blues, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, and impeccable chops became a template for future bands.
History
The band originated from a weekly Atlanta jam session hosted by Hampton (from the Hampton Grease BandHampton Grease Band
The Hampton Grease Band was an American rock band, beginning as a blues-rock group in the late 1960s in Atlanta, Georgia. They performed with several major bands in this period, including Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers. The band gained a reputation for wacky stage antics, and eventually...
and The Late Bronze Age
The Late Bronze Age
The Late Bronze Age was an American band of the 1980s that performed eclectic and unusual music described by some as "unabashedly weird." It was fronted by Bruce Hampton, in his first appearance under the "Col. Bruce Hampton " persona...
) and eventually toured around the Southeastern United States with Hampton, Herring, Burbridge, Sipe, Mundy, and M'Butu. This lineup produced two albums released on Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records was an independent record label which was launched by Phil Walden, Alan Walden, and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia.-First Incarnation:...
; Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit, in 1992, and Mirrors of Embarrassment, in 1993.
During the summer of 1992, the group helped start the H.O.R.D.E. tour
H.O.R.D.E.
Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere or H.O.R.D.E. Festival was a touring summer rock music festival originated by the musical group Blues Traveler in 1992. In addition to travelling headliners, the festival gave exposure to bands, charities, and organizations from the local area of the...
with such like-minded bands as Phish
Phish
Phish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 , the band's four members – Trey Anastasio , Mike Gordon , Jon Fishman , and Page McConnell Phish is an American rock band...
, Spin Doctors
Spin Doctors
Spin Doctors is an American alternative rock band formed in New York City, best known for their early 1990s hits, "Two Princes," and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong," which peaked the Billboard Hot 100 charts at #7 & #17 respectively....
, Blues Traveler
Blues Traveler
Blues Traveler is a rock band, formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. The band has been influenced by a variety of genres, including blues-rock, psychedelic rock, folk rock, soul, and Southern rock...
, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, and Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Todd Nance, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guitarist Jimmy Herring...
. Members of these bands would frequently tour, perform, and record with one another. Béla Fleck
Béla Fleck
Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.-Early life and career details:Fleck was born in...
and John Popper
John Popper
John Popper is an American musician and songwriter.He is most famous for his role as frontman of rock band Blues Traveler performing harmonica, guitar and vocals...
contributed on Mirrors of Embarrassment and Popper also contributed to The Benefit Concert Vol. 2. Chuck Leavell
Chuck Leavell
Chuck Leavell is an American pianist and keyboardist, who was a member of The Allman Brothers Band throughout the height of their popularity, a founding member of the jazz-rock combo Sea Level, a frequently-employed session musician, and later, the keyboardist for Eric Clapton and The Rolling...
played on ARU's first two albums on Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records was an independent record label which was launched by Phil Walden, Alan Walden, and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia.-First Incarnation:...
. Also in 1992 Billy Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton is an American actor, screenwriter, director and musician. Thornton gained early recognition as a cast member on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire and in several early 1990s films including On Deadly Ground and Tombstone...
directed the movie Widespread Panic: Live from the Georgia Theatre which features a music video for "Basically Frightened
Basically Frightened
"Basically Frightened" is the title of a song written by Col. Bruce Hampton, Tinsley Ellis, and the late Ricky Keller. The song was first recorded and released on Col. Bruce Hampton's 1986 solo album "Arkansas" on Landslide Records....
" performed by Col. Bruce Hampton & The Aquarium Rescue Unit with Chuck Leavell
Chuck Leavell
Chuck Leavell is an American pianist and keyboardist, who was a member of The Allman Brothers Band throughout the height of their popularity, a founding member of the jazz-rock combo Sea Level, a frequently-employed session musician, and later, the keyboardist for Eric Clapton and The Rolling...
and Count M'Butu.
Break-up
In 1993 the band lost two key members when Matt Mundy retired from the band and Hampton soon followed. Oteil, Herring and Sipe continued to tour as simply "The Aquarium Rescue Unit." The band had a rotating outer cast of members over the years, including Paul Henson and Sean O'RourkeSean O'Rourke
Sean O'Rourke is an Irish journalist and broadcaster who works for the state TV company, Raidió Teilifís Éireann . He presents the News At One programme every weekday and is also the host of RTÉ's topical current affairs round-up The Week in Politics....
. They recorded additional studio albums as Aquarium Rescue Unit: 1994's eeePee and In A Perfect World, and 1997's The Calling
The Calling
The Calling is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, best known for their hit single, "Wherever You Will Go." The group formed in 2000 and have released two albums. They have been on an indefinite hiatus since 2005.-Band history:...
.
The remaining original members started to leave as they received offers from other larger acts. Jeff Sipe
Jeff Sipe
Jeff Sipe is an American drummer. He is a rock and jazz fusion drummer, however, he is proficient in many other styles which he has demonstrated in his decades of drumming. He is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit along with Col. Bruce Hampton...
joined with Jonas Hellborg
Jonas Hellborg
Jonas Hellborg is a Swedish bass guitarist. He has collaborated with John McLaughlin, Ustad Sultan Khan, Fazal Qureshi, Bill Laswell, Shawn Lane, Jens Johansson, Michael Shrieve, V. Selvaganesh, Mattias IA Eklundh and Buckethead....
and the late Shawn Lane
Shawn Lane
Shawn Lane was an American musician. Although piano was his first instrument, he quickly became a noted player in underground guitar circles and joined Black Oak Arkansas when he was just fourteen years old....
in 1995, and over the years has played with Leftover Salmon
Leftover Salmon
Leftover Salmon is a jam band from Boulder, Colorado, formed in 1989. Their unique blend of bluegrass, rock, country, and Cajun/Zydeco, which the band calls "Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass", has found favor with the jam band scene...
, Susan Tedeschi
Susan Tedeschi
Susan Tedeschi is an American blues and soul musician, who has received multiple Grammy Award nominations, and is well-known for her singing voice, guitar playing, stage presence, and marriage to blues guitarist Derek Trucks...
, Phil Lesh
Phil Lesh
Phillip Chapman Lesh is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career....
, and Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio is an American guitarist, composer, and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish...
. Currently Jeff Sipe is playing drums for Keller Williams
Keller Williams
Keller Williams is an American musician from Fredericksburg, Virginia, who began performing in the early 1990s. He is also known by the names K-Dub or just Keller, when performing. Williams' music combines elements of bluegrass, folk, alternative rock, reggae, electronica/dance, jazz, funk, and...
's new band the WMDs. In 1997, Oteil Burbridge
Oteil Burbridge
Oteil Burbridge, in Washington, D.C.), is a Grammy Award-nominated American multi-instrumentalist, specializing on the bass guitar, trained in playing jazz and classical music from an early age. He has achieved fame primarily on bass guitar during the current resurgence of the Allman Brothers Band...
replaced Allen Woody
Allen Woody
Douglas Allen Woody was bass guitarist best known for his tenure in the rock groups The Allman Brothers Band, Gov't Mule, The Artimus Pyle Band, The Peter Criss Band, Blue Floyd, and Montage.-Biography:...
in The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
. Burbridge also played in Phish keyboardist Page McConnell
Page McConnell
Page Samuel McConnell is an American multi-instrumentalist most noted for his work as a songwriter and keyboardist with the American rock band Phish....
's side project Vida Blue
Vida Blue (band)
Vida Blue was an electronic trio featuring Page McConnell , with Oteil Burbridge , and Russell Batiste .-Name:Vida Blue got its name from the 1970s Major League Baseball pitcher Vida Blue...
, as well as on Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio is an American guitarist, composer, and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish...
's Surrender to the Air
Surrender to The Air
Surrender to the Air was a free jazz ensemble led by Trey Anastasio of Phish that included Marshall Allen, Damon Choice, and Michael Ray of the Sun Ra Orchestra, John Medeski, Marc Ribot, Oteil Burbridge, Jon Fishman, and several other musicians....
. He is still playing with the Allman Brothers Band while writing, recording and touring with his own band, Oteil and the Peacemakers and now with Tedeschi Trucks Band
Tedeschi Trucks Band
The Tedeschi Trucks Band, formerly known as the Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Band is a blues rock group based in Jacksonville, Florida. Formed in 2010, the band is led by husband-and-wife musicians Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, and primarily features members from their respective solo groups.-...
. Jimmy Herring
Jimmy Herring
Jimmy Herring is an American guitarist who is currently the lead guitarist in the band Widespread Panic. Herring is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit and Jazz is Dead...
co-founded Jazz Is Dead
Jazz Is Dead
Jazz is Dead is an instrumental Grateful Dead cover band that interprets classic Dead songs with jazz influences. Although the group's composition has changed over time, with T Lavitz being the only constant member, the group is notable in featuring veterans of jazz and jazz fusion ensembles[]...
in 1998, then toured and recorded with supergroup
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
Frogwings, the Allman Brothers Band, Project Z
Project Z
The Project Z was a military project of the Empire of Japan, similar to the Nazi German Amerika Bomber project, to design an intercontinental bomber capable of reaching North America.-The planned aircraft:...
, Phil Lesh and Friends
Phil Lesh and Friends
Phil Lesh and Friends is an American rock band formed and led by Phil Lesh, former bassist of the Grateful Dead.Phil & Friends is not a traditional group in that several different lineups of musicians have played under the name, including groups featuring members of Phish, Little Feat, and the Zen...
, and The Dead
The Dead
The Dead may refer to:* The dead, those who have experienced death* 'The Dead' , by Rupert Brooke* "The Dead" , by James Joyce* The Dead , adapted from Joyce's story* James Joyce's The Dead, Broadway musical...
. In 2006 Herring was asked to join Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Todd Nance, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guitarist Jimmy Herring...
with whom he has recorded and toured extensively.
Reunion
In 2005 Hampton, Herring, Sipe, Burbridge and M'Butu reunited for several shows as the original Col. Bruce Hampton and Aquarium Rescue Unit. The new tradition was continued with eight shows in Colorado and the Southeast between January 2006 and May 2007. Bobby Lee Rodgers of The CodetalkersThe Codetalkers
The Codetalkers were a jazz, rock and roll band from Savannah, Georgia, composed of Bobby Lee Rodgers, , Mark Raudabaugh and Andrew Altman . The band was formed in 1999, upon the meeting of Rodgers and Col. Bruce Hampton at a show at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta...
was asked to sit in on banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
and vocals, taking the place of Matt Mundy who is doing well but has retired from performing.
By 2007 each member of the original lineup was an accomplished artist in their own right: Herring with Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Todd Nance, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guitarist Jimmy Herring...
, Burbridge with two bands: The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
and Oteil and The Peacemakers, Sipe with Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio is an American guitarist, composer, and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish...
and Leftover Salmon
Leftover Salmon
Leftover Salmon is a jam band from Boulder, Colorado, formed in 1989. Their unique blend of bluegrass, rock, country, and Cajun/Zydeco, which the band calls "Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass", has found favor with the jam band scene...
, M'Butu with The Derek Trucks Band
The Derek Trucks Band
The Derek Trucks Band has been called a "group of musicians that share a passion for improvisation and musical exploration" by a reviewer at Allmusic....
, and Hampton with Col. Bruce
Bruce Hampton
Bruce Hampton is a surrealist American musician. In the late 1960s he was a founding member of Atlanta, Georgia's avant-garde Hampton Grease Band...
& The Quark Alliance
The Quark Alliance
Col. Bruce & The Quark Alliance is a band formed in 2006 by musician Col. Bruce Hampton that recorded and toured through 2010. Hampton has been a part of the Southern music scene since the 1960s fronting such acts as The Hampton Grease Band, The Late Bronze Age, The Aquarium Rescue Unit, and The...
.
Indications are the original Aquarium Rescue Unit will play more dates in the future, but the busy schedule of each member makes the next show difficult to predict.
Aquarium Rescue Unit reunited for the reopening of the Georgia Theatre in Athens, GA on August 8, 2011. The lineup included Col. Bruce Hampton, Jimmy Herring, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Sipe and Matt Slocum on keyboards.
Albums
- Col. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit (1992) – Live album – Capricorn RecordsCapricorn RecordsCapricorn Records was an independent record label which was launched by Phil Walden, Alan Walden, and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia.-First Incarnation:...
- Mirrors of Embarrassment (1993) – Studio album – Capricorn Records
- Warren Haynes Presents: The Benefit Concert, Vol. 2 (2007) – Live album – Evil Teen Records
Aquarium Rescue Unit without Hampton
- In a Perfect WorldIn a Perfect WorldIn a Perfect World is a 1994 studio album by the Aquarium Rescue Unit.-Track listing:#"Search Yourself" – 5:58#"Stand up People" – 4:58#"How Tight's Yer Drawers" – 3:50...
(1994) – Studio album – Velvet Dwarf Records - eeePee (1994) (This was a limited edition release)
- The Calling (1997) - Studio album - Inio Music