Sampson-Gamma Electric Co.
Sampson-Gamma Electric Company is a project that is the brainchild of jazz drummer, Woodrow Johnson II. The purpose of the project is to blend a fusion of four (4) distinct styles of music into one. The four (4) styles being Jazz, R&B, Punk, and Electronica. Woodrow explains that, "The project was inspired by a quote from Arthur Ashe (the late professional tennis star of the 1970's.) The quote being "Do what you can, with what you've got." I had a couples of keyboards, a couple of acoustic guitars, some sound modules, a few friends who played various instruments and a laptop with some music software. From that, I started the project."
The namesake of the project is an homage to Dr. Henry Thomas Sampson, African-American inventor of the Gamma Electric Cell (converting nuclear radiation directly into electricity, making it a safe and useful energy source). Added to this, Dr. Sampson is also a film maker, and authored the book "The Ghost Walks: A Chronological History of Blacks in Show Business, 1865-1910”. His diversity in the world of Science and Art was the thing that captured my attention and amazed me, being a part the Information Technology world for over 15 years (This is how I paid the bills, kept the frig full, and gas in the car(s)).
I've been composing songs for a few years now just as a hobby, and last year decided to seriously record an album, just to see where it goes. The theme of the first EP "One Below Zero" was 'the welcomed arrival of cooler weather and the end of Texas heat'. This along with a bunch of quiet early mornings' made for writing tunes that one of my friends described as 'THE ULTIMATE SLEEPING PILL'. It's THAT relaxing.
The next project is a full-length recording tentatively entitled 'Digitally Constructed (Technique Sold Seperately)'. Here, the attempt will be to combines and fuse Jazz, Punk, R&B, Electronica. The album will feature various musicians and a lot of vocal and improvisational work layered of top of tunes with a digital foundation in the above-mentioned styles.