Burnt Sugar
Encyclopedia
Burnt Sugar, also known as Burnt Sugar, The Arkestra Chamber, is an American
improvisation
al band
. The band's music combines the influences of funk
, jazz
, rock
, reggae
, soul
, hip hop
, heavy metal
, and 20th century classical music
. It has been described by one critic as a "funk-rock-electronic-samba-soul-jazz-fusion-whatever ensemble". One critic wrote that Burnt Sugar's music "is not the easiest thing to describe", while another critic wrote that "Burnt Sugar sounds like a big cloud".
Burnt Sugar was founded in 1999 by guitarist
and writer Greg Tate
. Among the band's influences are Bitches Brew
-era Miles Davis
, Funkadelic
, Bad Brains
, Band of Gypsys
, Sun Ra
, Herbie Hancock
's Mwandishi
, and Material
.
The membership of Burnt Sugar is fluid. As many as 40 musicians have passed through the band and are available to play with it, although the group's core consists of about 12 musicians. Notable musicians who have played with Burnt Sugar include guitarists Pete Cosey
, who played in Davis' band during the early 1970s, and Vernon Reid
, guitarist for the funk metal
band Living Colour
. Other members of the group have included pianist
Vijay Iyer
and saxophonists
Avram Fefer
and Matana Roberts
.
Tate serves as Burnt Sugar's leader, using a system called "conduction" to direct the musicians as they improvise
. Conduction, which was developed by Butch Morris
, is a series of hand and baton signals that cue various musical themes or musicians. Tate said that under conduction, "the band becomes the instrument of the conductor's will." He has described his role as conductor as:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
al band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
. The band's music combines the influences of funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
, heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, and 20th century classical music
20th century classical music
20th century classical music was without a dominant style and highly diverse.-Introduction:At the turn of the century, music was characteristically late Romantic in style. Composers such as Gustav Mahler and Jean Sibelius were pushing the bounds of Post-Romantic Symphonic writing...
. It has been described by one critic as a "funk-rock-electronic-samba-soul-jazz-fusion-whatever ensemble". One critic wrote that Burnt Sugar's music "is not the easiest thing to describe", while another critic wrote that "Burnt Sugar sounds like a big cloud".
Burnt Sugar was founded in 1999 by guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and writer Greg Tate
Greg Tate
Greg Tate is an American author, focusing on African-American cultural theory and writing. He was acknowledged by The Source magazine as one of the 'Godfathers of Hip-hop Journalism'....
. Among the band's influences are Bitches Brew
Bitches Brew
Bitches Brew is a studio double album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released in April 1970 on Columbia Records. The album continued his experimentation with electric instruments previously featured on his critically acclaimed In a Silent Way album...
-era Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, Funkadelic
Funkadelic
Funkadelic was an American band most prominent during the 1970s. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, began the funk music culture of that decade.-History:...
, Bad Brains
Bad Brains
Bad Brains is an American hardcore punk band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1977. They are widely regarded as among the pioneers of hardcore punk, though the band's members objected to this term to describe their music. They are also an adept reggae band, while later recordings featured elements of...
, Band of Gypsys
Band of Gypsys
Band of Gypsys was a blues rock band led by Jimi Hendrix and backed by Billy Cox and Buddy Miles. Hendrix formed the band after the dissolution of The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Band of Gypsys is also the band's eponymous live album recorded on two separate nights, 31 December 1969 and 1 January...
, Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
, Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
's Mwandishi
Mwandishi
Mwandishi is the ninth album by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, released in 1971. It is one of Hancock's first departures from the traditional idioms of jazz as well as the onset of a new, creative and original style which produced an appeal to a wider audience, before his 1973 album, Head Hunters...
, and Material
Material (band)
For the rock band of the same name, see The MaterialMaterial is a musical group formed in 1979 and led by bass guitarist Bill Laswell.-1978-82: The band:...
.
The membership of Burnt Sugar is fluid. As many as 40 musicians have passed through the band and are available to play with it, although the group's core consists of about 12 musicians. Notable musicians who have played with Burnt Sugar include guitarists Pete Cosey
Pete Cosey
Pete Cosey is an African-American guitarist most famous for playing with Miles Davis' band between 1973 and 1975. His fiercely flanged and distorted guitar bore comparisons to Jimi Hendrix...
, who played in Davis' band during the early 1970s, and Vernon Reid
Vernon Reid
Vernon Reid is an English-born American guitarist, songwriter, composer, and bandleader. Best known as the founder and primary songwriter of the heavy metal band Living Colour, Reid was named #66 on Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.Critic Steve Huey writes, "[Reid's]...
, guitarist for the funk metal
Funk metal
Funk metal is a subgenre of funk rock that fuses elements of heavy metal and funk. Allmusic has claimed that "funk metal evolved in the mid-'80s when alternative bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Faith No More, Infectious Grooves, Mordred and Fishbone began playing the hybrid with a stronger...
band Living Colour
Living Colour
Living Colour is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1984. Stylistically, the band's music is a creative fusion influenced by free jazz, funk, neo-psychedelia, hard rock, and heavy metal...
. Other members of the group have included pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
Vijay Iyer
Vijay Iyer
Vijay Iyer is a jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, producer, electronic musician, and writer based in New York City.-Biography:Born in 1971 and raised in Rochester, New York, Vijay Iyer is the son of Indian Tamil immigrants to the US. He received 15 years of Western classical training on violin...
and saxophonists
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
Avram Fefer
Avram Fefer
Avram Fefer is an American jazz saxophonist, composer and band leader, currently residing in New York City. He has been performing and recording internationally since 1990...
and Matana Roberts
Matana Roberts
Matana Roberts is a jazz saxophonist, composer and improviser based in New York City. She is a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians...
.
Tate serves as Burnt Sugar's leader, using a system called "conduction" to direct the musicians as they improvise
Free improvisation
Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician involved. The term can refer to both a technique and as a recognizable genre in its own right....
. Conduction, which was developed by Butch Morris
Butch Morris
Lawrence D. "Butch" Morris is an American jazz cornetist, composer and conductor.-Biography:Before his musical career, Morris served in Vietnam during the Vietnam War....
, is a series of hand and baton signals that cue various musical themes or musicians. Tate said that under conduction, "the band becomes the instrument of the conductor's will." He has described his role as conductor as:
Discography
- Blood on the Leaf: Opus No. 1 (2000)
- That Depends on What You Know 1: The Sirens Return / Keep It Real 'Til It Flatlines (2001)
- That Depends on What You Know 2: The Crepescularium (2001)
- That Depends on What You Know 3: Fubractive Since Antiquity Suite (2001)
- The Rites: Conductions Inspired by Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps (2003)
- Black Sex Yall Liberation & Bloody Random Violets (2003)
- Not April in Paris: Live from Banlieus Bleues (2004)
- If You Can't Dazzle Them With Your Brilliance, Then Baffle Them With Your Blisluth (2005)
- More Than Posthuman: Rise of the Mojosexual Cotillion (2006)
- Burnt Sugar Chopped and Screwed Volume 2 (2006)
- Live from Minnegiggle Falls (2007)
- Burnt Sugar Vs. The Dominatrix (2007)
- Never Been Kissed: The Groidest Shiznits 1999-2006 (2007)
- Making Love to the Dark Ages (2009)