COL. BRUCE HAMPTON | 2.2 | ATLANTA

PART 1: THE MOVIE
For years I have struggled, along with many others, to try and describe Bruce Hampton's bizarre and distinctive musical philosophy. Now we finally have a definitive document that encapsulates Bruce's view of the world. When people in the 26th Century ask "Who was Bruce Hampton and why does he have so many statues, libraries, and parks named after him?," they will be directed to watch Outside Out, and all will be revealed.

The plot centers around young Ricky Bault, an aspiring guitarist whose father keeps threatening to send him to military school. His only hope for escape is to get accepted into music school instead, and to this end he seeks out the Outstructional Video by Col. Bruce Hampton. When the video starts talking back to him, he goes to study with the Colonel in person.

Rather than traditional teaching methods, Bruce gives young Ricky such puzzling advice as "Never reach a conclusion" and "Never play the D string." When a frustrated Ricky declares that the Colonel isn't playing an E chord as he requested, Bruce's deadpan reply is that "My E isn't the same as your E." The Colonel informs Ricky that he has filled his head with useless information, and now the time has come to go "Out." By the end of the movie, Ricky comes to realize that this means getting out of his head and not analyzing so much, enabling him to get to a state of pure self-expression.

Much like Bruce himself, the movie is often incomprehensible, but tremendously entertaining nonetheless. One bright spot for Phish fans is Mike Gordon's hilarious cameo as the lead singer for a country band called Ramble Dove. It was particularly special to see Outside Out in Variety Playhouse, which serves as the setting for a Ramble Dove performance in the movie. Other Atlanta landmarks, like Son's Place soul food restaurant at the corner of Hurt and Edgewood, received raucous applause when they appeared on screen, and gave the film a true hometown appeal to the Variety audience.

PART 2: THE SHOW
After Outside Out finished, the movie screen was removed from the stage and the crowd was treated to a special show by Col. Bruce and the Code Talkers. Such timeless Bruce Hampton classics as No Egos Underwater and Planet Earth were given full workouts, balanced by more country and bluegrass flavored tunes written by banjo and guitar player extraordinaire Bobby Lee Rogers.

At several points throughout the night I was impressed by how much Bobby Lee's playing has changed over the years to incorporate the concepts presented in Outside Out. When I first saw Bobby Lee play with the Colonel, he was a red-hot player, but tended to stay within the confines of traditional musical structures. Now, although his playing still has a sweet melodic lilt to it, he is more adventuresome in his playing. Odd jazz voicings and unusual chord combinations show up more often, with Bobby Lee's strong sense of harmony and melody allowing him to always find his way back to the tune.

A good example of the Code Talkers sound was on the show-closing version of Turn On Your Lovelight. Starting from the gospel roots of the original, the jam took many turns and twists, finally climaxing in an ecstatic jam that had the whole crowd dancing in the aisles. The crowd demanded and got an encore, with Bruce and the band coming back out to lead the crowd in an a cappella call-and-response exercise that resembled a revival at the First Orthodox Church of Zambi, Reformed.

And that joyful, religious fervor is the foundation on which Bruce Hampton's musical legacy rests. As elaborated in Outside Out, it doesn't matter if you are playing the "right" notes if they don't move your soul. On the other hand, you can play as "wrong" as you want, provided that the results are nourishing to the mind, heart, and spirit, and speaking for myself, I walked away full on Friday night.

Rob Johnson
JamBase Atlanta Correspondent
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