Musician collapses during birthday concert, dies

ATLANTA — When Col. Bruce Hampton slowly fell to his knees during the finale of his star-studded birthday concert, fans and musicians alike thought it was another one of his quirky performance acts.

Fourteen-year-old guitar phenom Brandon “Taz” Niederauer tore into a blistering solo as the 70-year-old man lay motionless just feet away, his arm draped over a speaker.

For several more minutes, dozens of musicians — including John Popper of Blues Traveler, Warren Haynes of The Allman Brothers Band and John Bell of Widespread Panic — jammed away to one of Hampton’s favorite songs, “Turn On Your Love Light.” The fans danced and the musicians smiled as they waited for him to get up. But Col. Bruce never did. The eccentric guitarist and singer known as the forefather of the jam band scene died after collapsing Monday night at the end of the show billed by Atlanta’s Fox Theatre as “Hampton 70: A Celebration of Col. Bruce Hampton.” He had turned 70 a day earlier.

“As I played tonight, I had a joy that I’ve never had ... But it was eerie,” banjo player the Rev. Jeff Mosier said in a tearful Facebook post. “And then at the end, Bruce looked like he was jokingly worshipping that young guitar player. And he got down on his knees and I was getting ready to do the same thing. ... I was lucky to know him and I was lucky to be there.”

Hampton founded several bands, including the Hampton Grease Band and the Aquarium Rescue Unit, and had a knack for surrounding himself with talented musicians, including Derek Trucks of the Tedeschi Trucks Band and Jimmy Herring of Widespread Panic. While wealth and fame eluded him, he was widely acknowledged as an influence on other leading musicians. He also played the role of a songwriting band manager in Billy Bob Thornton’s 1996 film “Sling Blade.”