I'm going to be lame and just repost what I put on Facebook. I'm really bummed he and Xander will never meet. They enjoy a similar surrealist nature.
It's hard to overestimate the influence of Col. Bruce Hampton. His career spanned many worlds (one of the shocks of my life was walking into Johnny D's to see him play a post ARU show and standing on stage with him was Paul McCandless, another hero of mine as an oboist. Worlds colliding! Turns out they had been jamming buddies in the 70s, but I never would have guessed. In retrospect, it makes perfect sense.), from the late 60s to last night. He was one of those guys whose persona veered between madman on the street to someone who was able to instantly cut to the most profoundly insightful aspect of any situation. He simultaneously created the bullshit and blew it away. I'll never forget being at Peabody's Down Under when Shockra played with ARU and there was a picture on the wall of John Abercrombie. One of the guys in ARU called him over and said "Hey Bruce, here's a picture of you!" and he spun a great tale of the circumstances around the picture. He drew the best musicians from diverse worlds and inspired them and, in the most humble way, brooked no ego tripping. Aquarium Rescue Unit, which coalesced around him, was full of musicians at the top of the craft, who have gone on to much higher profile gigs, was a band that could have been just a showcase for ego and showing off chops, but, despite the fantastic displays of virtuosity, everyone always served the song; they took the music seriously, but not themselves seriously. It was the best band in the world.
In the early 90s, I was lucky enough to spend time with him, here and there, (and yes, he did eventually guess my birthday and then told me that I was one of the few Aquarians that he could hang with. More BS? Maybe. Probably.) where he didn't have to be "on". His friendships and connections were not based on the stature of someone's reputation, but on the content of their soul. He brought love and respect to everyone. While he had the capacity for immense schtick, there was always a part that was utterly real. Beyond real. A surrealist in a post modern age. I wish I had taken the time to reconnect in the last decade or so.
The world is a much poorer place for his absence, but in the balance of all things, a much, much, much richer place for his presence with us for so long (he dodged the 27 curse, and the 57 is the new 27 curse!). And what a way to go out!
