Listen to Wave Free Radicals is a jazz, funk, hip-hop, avant-garde, ska, reggae, African music, Indian music, punk, klesmer, polka and Latin-jazz group committed to non-commercial original innovative music, political action and incessant rehearsing. ree Radicals live band includes six or seven members including Nick Cooper (drums), Tom Sutherland (organ) Kent Bryant (bass). On recordings, Free Radicals invites a group of 30 or more musicians and vocalists into the studio to help out.
Free Radicals began in 1996 with Nick and whoever he could find. The focus of the group was on improvisation and recording. Other musicians joined Free Radicals on stage and in the studio. The results of this collaboration make up about half of the first Free Radicals CD, The Rising Tide Sinks All. In 1997, the focus of the group switched away from improvisation to song writing and the band began rehearsing regularly three times a week. Horn players, keyboard players, guitarists, singers and rappers came in and out of the group. Rising Tide includes 55 musicians (including included Houston jazz legend Harry Sheppard on vibes and Subhendu Chakraborty on tablas), 75 minutes of music, 29 songs and almost as many styles -- funk, jazz, Nigerian, Indian, ska, hip-hop and reggae.
The album received positive reviews around the country on the band's first tours. The most enduring tour support has come from the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Free Radicals travels up to New York every three months to play there and elsewhere. Performing there, the band has received great press coverage, being recommended in the New Yorker twice.
Free Radicals has always been based around a commitment to charities, community and political progress. The 24 hour concert was a milestone event, when Free Radicals played without stopping for a second from noon November 21, 1999 to noon on the 22nd to raise money for Kid Care. Many months, Free Radicals plays more fund-raisers, benefits and political rallies than regular concerts. The CDs have also had political themes.
The second studio CD, Our Lady of Eternal Sunny Delights, was released in 2000. Many of the guest musicians from the first CD join in and some Latin grooves are added.
Free Radicals third CD was released in 2004 and features fifty musicians and vocalists. "Aerial Bombardment" includes blues singer Gloria Edwards, rappers Zin and Perseph1 as well as poets from The Blackout Poets collective in Houston. However, the album is still mostly instrumental, introducing some new forms, including capoeira angola / dub remixes and beat collages.
Free Radicals began in 1996 with Nick and whoever he could find. The focus of the group was on improvisation and recording. Other musicians joined Free Radicals on stage and in the studio. The results of this collaboration make up about half of the first Free Radicals CD, The Rising Tide Sinks All. In 1997, the focus of the group switched away from improvisation to song writing and the band began rehearsing regularly three times a week. Horn players, keyboard players, guitarists, singers and rappers came in and out of the group. Rising Tide includes 55 musicians (including included Houston jazz legend Harry Sheppard on vibes and Subhendu Chakraborty on tablas), 75 minutes of music, 29 songs and almost as many styles -- funk, jazz, Nigerian, Indian, ska, hip-hop and reggae.
The album received positive reviews around the country on the band's first tours. The most enduring tour support has come from the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Free Radicals travels up to New York every three months to play there and elsewhere. Performing there, the band has received great press coverage, being recommended in the New Yorker twice.
Free Radicals has always been based around a commitment to charities, community and political progress. The 24 hour concert was a milestone event, when Free Radicals played without stopping for a second from noon November 21, 1999 to noon on the 22nd to raise money for Kid Care. Many months, Free Radicals plays more fund-raisers, benefits and political rallies than regular concerts. The CDs have also had political themes.
The second studio CD, Our Lady of Eternal Sunny Delights, was released in 2000. Many of the guest musicians from the first CD join in and some Latin grooves are added.
Free Radicals third CD was released in 2004 and features fifty musicians and vocalists. "Aerial Bombardment" includes blues singer Gloria Edwards, rappers Zin and Perseph1 as well as poets from The Blackout Poets collective in Houston. However, the album is still mostly instrumental, introducing some new forms, including capoeira angola / dub remixes and beat collages.
