Brandon “Taz” Niederauer last week clapped back at a commenter on social media who said that one of his new songs has the late Col. Bruce Hampton “rolling in his grave” with a video on social media explaining his connection with the so-called “Granddaddy of the Jam Scene” and why this commenter’s assertions contradicted his core philosophies.
“Apparently my dead mentor is rolling in his grave,” an amused Taz explains in the clip. “Let me explain. I’ve been playing music for more than a decade, but one of my biggest influences was this guy named Col. Bruce Hampton. We were in a movie together, but we also played this one show in Atlanta for 5,000 people on his 70th birthday. … I was probably 12 or 13. However, during that show, as he came over to me to introduce me to the crowd, he collapsed onto me. We all thought it was a joke, but it was actually an extreme health complication, and he ended up dying that night.”
Related: Stranger Than Fiction: The Cosmic Curtain Call Of Col. Bruce Hampton [Review/Feature]
“Back then I knew I wanted to be an artist one day,” Taz continues, “but I didn’t know what type of music I wanted to make. I tried everything, and videos of me playing styles like blues and rock, etcetera popped off. Fast forward to now, I’m 22 and I know what type of music I wanna make, and it’s not the same exact type of music I was making when I was a fetus.”
“Now, the irony is,” Niederauer adds, returning to the original comment about Hampton, “Bruce would have been the first person to tell me to follow the path of my heart and not necessarily what people are expecting. So, Bruce, you can rest peacefully in Heaven knowing that I’m always gonna be true to myself… and if you think these types of comments get to me, then you should meet my friends from college and my brother that I lived with for 20 years.”
Unsurprisingly, the video’s comment section is filled with fellow Col. Bruce disciples and other musicians praising Taz for ignoring the hate and following his own path, including Dominic John Davis, Eli Winderman, Tierinii Jackson, Nikki Glaspie, Maurice Brown, Chris Gelbuda, Alex Wasily, Kanika Moore, Joy Oladokun Duane Trucks, Adam Deitch, Ryan Zoidis, Cotter Ellis, and more.
The Music Behind The Madness At Col. Bruce Hampton’s Last Hurrah [Photos/Audio]
In a follow-up post a few days later, he thanked fans and friends for the response to the initial video. He also pointed viewers toward the song that had prompted the original comment, “Anywhere”, the smokey, sincere R&B track that places the focus on his voice and uses his well-known guitar abilities more for atmospheric texture and emotional weight than high-speed shredding.
“Anywhere”, along with other recent singles “Running After You Again” and “Say Something”, mark Taz’s first original output since graduating from Yale University and launching his career as a solo recording artist. Find a list of upcoming Taz tour dates here.
Below, watch the two clips from Taz responding to the “Col. Bruce is rolling in his grave” comment and listen to Taz’s first three original singles, “Anywhere”, “Running After You Again”, and “Say Something”.
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