Free Radicals is an American band from Houston, Texas, that combines elements of several genres: jazz, funk, ska, reggae, hip-hop, African, and Indian music.
Contents
History
The Free Radicals live band includes six or seven members. On recordings — The Rising Tide Sinks All (1998), Our Lady of Eternal Sunny Delights (2000), Aerial Bombardment (2004), and The Freedom Fence (2012) — Free Radicals invites a group of 50 or more musicians and vocalists into the studio.
Drummer Nick Cooper founded the group in 1996, with a goal of specializing in improvised music. In 2000, The New Yorker wrote, "The horn-heavy, continually evolving collective Free Radicals produces a wildly eclectic fusion that has as many influences as there are items in the Houston, Texas, pawnshop in which they honed their sound during all-night jam sessions." In 2010, Dawn wrote that the artwork and message about underwater oil-leaks, oil-wars, and bank-crashes on the band's first CD was like a "premonition waiting to become true." Free Radicals frequent collaborators and guest musicians include Al Pagliuso, Dan Cooper, Harry Sheppard, Gloria Edwards, Nelson Mills III, Subhendu Chakraborty, and Karina Nistal.
The Free Radicals perform many concerts, marches, and fundraisers for anti-authoritarian and radical groups like food not bombs, peace festivals, and charity events including a continuous 24-hour concert in November 1999 to raise money for Kid Care, a health program for children. They have protested against Halliburton, and participated in marches for immigrant rights and for a Houston janitor's union.
Awards and honors
Free Radicals has won the following 21 awards in Houston
1998: Best Jazz, Best Unsigned Band
1999: Best Jazz, Best Funk, Best Drummer
2001: Best Jazz
2002: Best Jazz
2003: Best Jazz
2004: Best CD by Local Musicians
2008: Best Jazz
2009: Best Jazz, Best Drummer
2010: Best Jazz,
2011: Best Jazz,
2012: Best CD "The Freedom Fence", Best Song "Ben Taub Blues", Best Jazz
2013: Best Jazz
2014: Best Jazz
2015: Best Jazz
2020: #1 Best Local Album 2020: "White Power Outage"
Discography
1998: The Rising Tide Sinks All
2000: Our Lady of Eternal Sunny Delights
2004: Aerial Bombardment
2012: The Freedom Fence
2015: Freedom of Movement
2017: Outside the Comfort Zone
2018: No State Solution (with DJ Sun) (compilation/remix album)
2020: White Power Outage, Vol. 1
2022: White Power Outage, Vol. 2