The fourth-annual Brooklyn Comes Alive will return to Brooklyn’s beloved Williamsburg neighborhood on September 29th for an all-day music marathon at Brooklyn Bowl, Music Hall of Williamsburg and Rough Trade. During Brooklyn Comes Alive this year, the one-day jam-packed festival will host a special tribute to those we’ve lost. Honoring Col. Bruce Hampton, Butch Trucks, and Gregg Allman, the special set will see an all-star cast of musicians come together to pay their respects to these three musical legends including guitar prodigy Brandon “Taz” Niederauer—a young fan-favorite guitarist who was mentored by Hampton, Trucks, and Allman from an early age on.
For this special set honoring those we’ve lost, Taz will be joined by Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and The Meters bassist, George Porter Jr.; acclaimed Lettuce guitarist, Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff; founding drummer of Col. Bruce’s Aquarium Rescue Unit, Jeff Sipe; Gregg Allman’s organ player for the Gregg Allman Band, Peter Levin; and former American Idol contestant and current vocalist for Taz’s solo band, Elise Testone.
Inspired by the vibrant musical communities of Brooklyn and New Orleans, Brooklyn Comes Alive brings together more than 50 artists, allowing them to carry out passion projects, play with their musical heroes, and collaborate in never-before-seen formations. Each attendee receives a wristband that grants access to every venue, which makes hopping from set to set a breeze, recreating and paying homage to the club-hopping atmosphere of Jazz Fest by night.
As Taz explained about how his highly anticipated Brooklyn Comes Alive set came together,
Well, it was kind of an easy process. Brooklyn Comes Alive came to me with this idea about doing a tribute show to all the artists that we’ve lost, and I was thinking about those musicians and the people that they’ve influenced. It was a pretty easy decision because all of the musicians that I picked, I look up to—especially Jeff Sipe, who is just an amazing drummer. George Porter Jr. is, I mean, a virtuoso himself, so the fact that they even said “yes” to playing with a 15-year-old kid… That’s just insane to me.
Jeff Sipe also offered his thoughts on his upcoming set at Brooklyn Comes Alive,
Playing with Taz and George Porter in honor of our dearly beloved Bruce Hampton is an important nod to a very special musician and energy force. I had the pleasure to work with Bruce for 34 years. He helped shape me musically and personally. His amazing psychic abilities were a mystery to us all. He was mesmerizing, on stage and off. Filled with wonder and fascination at all things, he pointed to the way of pure intentions and integrity. It’s no wonder that Bruce saw in Taz this purity and creative drive. It fills my heart to have witnessed first hand.
For a taste of what to expect from this tribute to those we’ve lost at Brooklyn Comes Alive, you can hear Taz and a number of our favorite musicians in the scene—including Duane Trucks (Widespread Panic), Dave Schools (Widespread Panic), Kofi Burbridge (Tedeschi Trucks Band), Jake Eckhart (Dirty Dozen Brass Band), Marcus King, Papa Mali, Eric McFadden, and Ryan Zoidis (Lettuce)—pay tribute to Col. Bruce during a memorial performance down in New Orleans during Jazz Fest 2018 here. Plus, check out Taz shredding through “Basically Frightened” with Col. Bruce Hampton in 2015 below.
[Video: Kendall Deflin]
The fourth-annual Brooklyn Comes Alive will return to Brooklyn’s beloved Williamsburg neighborhood on September 29th for an all-day music marathon at Brooklyn Bowl, Music Hall of Williamsburg and Rough Trade. Inspired by the vibrant musical communities of Brooklyn and New Orleans, Brooklyn Comes Alive brings together more than 50 artists, allowing them to carry out passion projects, play with their musical heroes, and collaborate in never-before-seen formations. For more information, ticketing, and to see the full list of performers scheduled for Brooklyn Comes Alive 2018, head to the festival’s website here.
