Is it any surprise that the next Bird Song selected here would be the one featuring Branford Marsalis? Being the first marriage between Branford and the Grateful Dead there’s a sense of daring and adventure with this show that is palpable.

I’m very glad that the powers that be over at Rhino decided to release this show as a standalone option for those who didn’t want to shell out for the complete box set. Everyone should be thankful that both parties agreed to let this see the light of day as well. Top to bottom it’s a killer show. But Bird Song is special. It’s your standard end-of-the-first-set-jam-vehicle, yes. But it’s also Branford’s trial by fire. The first song he ever played with the Grateful Dead. As you can hear, they knock it out of the park. The second set of this show may be the crown jewel, but Bird Song is an important milemarker in that it showed just what was possible. Of course, fans that night only had to wait through intermission (and on CD the wait is even shorter).

The entire show is a critical document of the Dead’s performing history and Bird Song is, in many ways, the entry point that cemented this as an all-time great show.

The familiar Bird Song riff kicks things off. All seems to be normal until you hear the faintest sound of a horn in the background. Branford quickly gains his confidence and starts to add his own textures and licks to the song. Never stepping on the vocalists – with Jerry and Brent sharing those duties during the refrain. Brandford uses the few measures between verses to try out a few more things. Unsurprisingly, verse two is equally as rich with Branford’s contributions. The song’s open-endedness is on full display as Jerry and Branford engage in a high level musical duel for quite a while, to everyone’s benefit. Just after the 7 minute mark Jerry plays some of those rapid pull-offs like he is wont to do in Looks Like Rain and Branford is right in step with him. Glorious. There are not enough superlatives to accurately describe the marriage of Branford Marsalis and the Grateful Dead on this evening. This is a perfect example of a 13 minute song that feels like it’s 4 minutes long. I think it’s almost impossible not to be engaged in the playing here and to lose track of time. They gently float down to the song’s refrain around the 11 minute mark. The song ends almost as softly and sweetly as it started. Certainly a sign of good things to come on this evening on Long Island.

Complete Setlist 3/29/90

Previous Bird Song DFAY Selections