Free Radicals

Free Radicals are a music collective from Houston, Texas, led by drummer Nick Cooper. It seems to have 7 or so more or less permanent members with a rotating cast of another 10-15, plus many guests. They play a wide variety of mostly rhythmically-intensive and horn-heavy styles like Afrobeat, Latin Jazz, Reggae/Ska as well as Hip-hop, Klezmer, Indian and Nigerian styles and/or a sort of Free Jazz that combines them, almost all of it very groove-focused and danceable. While the majority of their early work was instrumental, their more recent work mostly features guest vocalists/rappers that reflect the culture of the style of music being played. Their works are explicitly from a left-wing, multicultural social justice perspective, speaking out against white supremacy, American imperialism, Israeli apartheid and the overall oppressive nature of capitalism. That being the case, the band plays a lot of fundraisers and marches for political organizations/causes such as Food not Bombs.