Col. Bruce & The Quark Alliance is a band formed in 2006 by musician

Bruce Hampton Bruce Hampton (born Gustav Valentine Berglund III; April 30, 1947 – May 1, 2017) was an American musician. He was a key figure in the Atlanta, Georgia music scene, mentoring numerous other musicians who became national stars. His own musical ...

that recorded and toured through 2010. Hampton has been a part of the Southern music scene since the 1960s fronting such acts as The

Hampton Grease Band The Hampton Grease Band was an American rock band, beginning as a blues rock group in the late 1960s in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. They performed with several major bands in this period, including Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers. The ...

, The Late Bronze Age, The

Aquarium Rescue Unit Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit is a jazz fusion group founded by Col. Bruce Hampton. The band gained popularity in the Atlanta club scene in the early 1990s and went on to tour with the first H.O.R.D.E. Tour. During their formati ...

, and The Fiji Mariners. The Quark Alliance toured nationally and also included guitarist Jeff Caldwell, Perry Osborn, bassist Kris Dale, and drummers Mark Letalien and Duane Trucks. Perry Osborn joined the band in 2008, replacing original guitarist Jeff Caldwell. He teaches music at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

and has toured with

Grant Green Jr. Gregory Green, known professionally as Grant Green Jr., is a jazz guitarist and the eldest son of jazz guitarist Grant Green. He is a member of the group Masters of Groove with Bernard Purdie and Reuben Wilson. Born in St Louis, Missouri on Au ...

Jeff Sipe Jeff Sipe (born January 31, 1959), also known as Apt. Q258, is an American drummer. He is a rock and jazz fusion drummer but is proficient in other styles. He is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit with Bruce Hampton. He was a member of Le ...

, and Gary Gazaway. Kris Dale graduated from the University of Miami's School of Music with a degree in studio music and jazz performance. Kris played in many touring bands including Tongo-hiti, The Lost Continentals,

Kingsized ''Kingsized'' is the sixth studio album from Denver quartet Dressy Bessy. The album was released on Yep Roc Records in February 2016. Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey Scott Lewis McCaughey is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter and th ...

Bernadette Seacrest Bernadette Seacrest is an American vocalist born in San Francisco, California. Career In 2001 Seacrest began singing for The Long Goners, a Rockabilly band originating in Albuquerque, New Mexico that shared the stage with Hank Williams III, Bi ...

, and The Johnny Knox Trio. Along the way he picked up

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

and recorded on the theme song for

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

's "

Squidbillies ''Squidbillies'' is an American animated television series created by Jim Fortier and Dave Willis for Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. An unofficial pilot for the series aired on April 1, 2005. The series later made ...

Duane Trucks Duane Trucks (born December 28, 1988) is an American musician best known as the current drummer for Widespread Panic and Hard Working Americans. Life and career Duane Trucks was born on December 28, 1988, in Jacksonville, Florida. He began learn ...

was born in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. He began playing drums at the age of two. Coming from a musical family, he was able to learn from some of the best musicians in the country and take lessons from the legendary

Bernard Purdie Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie (born June 11, 1939) is an American drummer, and an influential R&B, soul and funk musician. He is known for his precise musical time keeping and his signature use of triplets against a half-time backbeat: the "Purdie ...

. After graduating high school he toured with his brother

Derek Trucks Derek Trucks (born June 8, 1979) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and founder of The Derek Trucks Band. He became an official member of The Allman Brothers Band in 1999. In 2010, he formed the Tedeschi Trucks Band with his wife, blues sing ...

's band, Soul Stew Revival. His jazz trio 'The Sixes' still plays occasionally around Atlanta. Former member Jeff Caldwell has been playing clubs in the South and L.A. for years. For a while he was at the

Musicians Institute Musicians Institute (MI) is a private for-profit music school in Los Angeles, California. MI students can earn Certificates and – with transfer of coursework taken at Los Angeles City College – Associate of Arts Degrees, as well as Bachelor ...

in California with

John Frusciante John Anthony Frusciante (; born March 5, 1970) is an American musician, best known as the guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers across three stints since 1988. He has released 11 solo albums and 7 EPs, ranging in style from acoustic guitar to e ...

and

guitarist

Jimmy Herring Jimmy Herring (born January 22, 1962) is the lead guitarist for the band Widespread Panic. He is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit and Jazz Is Dead and has played with The Allman Brothers Band, Project Z, Derek Trucks Band, Phil Lesh a ...

. Jeff wrote seven songs on the band's 2007 CD. Original drummer Mark Letalien still performs over 100 shows a year throughout the Southeast, has a busy teaching studio, and is the first call drummer for many bands in the Atlanta area. The Quark Alliance's only CD, " Give Thanks to Chank" was released in November 2007.

References

External links

Col. Bruce Hampton's WebsiteMark Letalien's WebsiteKris Dale's Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quark Alliance Jam bands Musical groups from Georgia (U.S. state)