Dead World Round-Up

by Gary Lambert

We were in the final stages of putting the Almanac together when we received word of Robert Hunter’s passing — an event which, it should go without saying, hit hard and made paying proper tribute the top priority, and we hope we accomplished that goal.

But perhaps the greatest tribute that could possibly be paid to Hunter is simply the fact that you, the Dead Heads are here — still in love with the music and the culture of the Grateful Dead and its inheritors; still avidly interested in news of current events in our world; still listening and dancing to the music in recorded form and live, and perhaps honoring it through your own music making. As the man wrote, in the end there’s still that song. And it seems like we’re nowhere near the end.

READ MORE ABOUT ROBERT HUNTER’S LIFE AND TIMES.

No one could have imagined when all this started that it would still be going on at all, let alone to this degree: the surviving founding members of the band still thriving creatively; scholars studying the music and the surrounding social phenomenon; hundreds of bands around the country and the world playing and singing these songs, some striving to replicate the originals as closely as they can, others taking gleefully subversive liberties. And then there are myriad examples of the ways the mainstream reflects the influence of the Dead and its world… say, was that a bit of “China Cat Sunflower” being played as they threw to commercial on that basketball game? Is that guy pretending to be a jamband guitarist in that prescription drug commercial playing a knockoff of Jerry’s “Tiger?” And then there’s the utterly unlikely phenomenon of the Grateful Dead informing (gulp!) fashion — as when GQ magazine ran a spread of models dressed in high-priced outfits covered in Dead iconography; or when the hugely popular young singer Maggie Rogers took the stage at Lollapalooza in a unisex tie-dyed suit that could have come right off someone in the GD circle in the 60s — uh, because it did! (It turned out Maggie’s outfit was formerly owned by longtime Dead audio wizard Dan Healy, whose daughter, Ambrosia, happens to be Ms. Rogers’ publicist). Some Dead Heads might look at all of this with a jaundiced eye, holding fast to the idea that the Grateful Dead were purely products of the counterculture and that anything smelling of pop culture is to be shunned. But when you’re assessing a band that became one of the biggest sellers of concert tickets in music history, and whose remaining members are still filling stadiums, let’s face it: you’re talking pop culture with a capital P.

Oh, speaking of filling stadiums: this year’s big box set release from the Dead’s archives was a vivid glimpse into that peak era of popularity in the band’s history, culled from five shows spanning three separate years (1987-89-91) at Giants Stadium in New Jersey.

Meanwhile, archivist David Lemieux continued to demonstrate why he’s the guy doing the picking for the Dave’s Picks series, with great and varied releases from distinctly different points in the band’s history. Reminder: Subscribe for 2020 soon!

And in the ongoing progression of 50th anniversary commemorative editions, the Dead’s third studio album, AOXOMOXOA got the deluxe treatment with a release that for the first time gathers in one package both the original 1969 version and the 1971 remix – now you take your pick of the weird or the slightly less weird!

Also on the subject of anniversaries of things from 1969: The Grateful Dead were represented on another box set this year… a really big one (38 discs!) representing nearly every note (plus announcements about lost kids and bad acid) at that shindig held on a dairy farm in upstate New York one August weekend in 1969. For years after it happened, it seemed like the Dead would not only never assent to having their Woodstock set released, but would prefer that it be buried at sea, as the conventional wisdom was that it was one of their worst performances ever. But time healing all wounds at all, they relented, perhaps in the interest of history. And as for their set… It wasn’t bad at all! Beset by delays, technical difficulties, near-lethal electric shocks and a rumor the stage was about to collapse? Yes to all of the above. But even with all that, they soldiered through, and actually delivered a “Dark Star” that could more than hold its own in a year that featured some of the best ones ever, and finished off with Pigpen commanding the stage with a solid “Turn On Your Lovelight” (even if the stage did get commandeered by a never-to-be-identified gentlemen who got on mic and raved about the Great Lakes, among other things). At any rate, the Dead survived the career setback pretty nicely, wouldn’t you agree?

Now having looked back a half century, let’s shift focus to what’s gone down in the past year, and what lies ahead…

DEAD & COMPANY

Dead & Company’s 2019 produced more than its share of jaw-on-floor syndrome among those lucky enough to attend some of – or most of, or all — the shows (or, as has become increasingly common, experience them at home through the magic of HD webcast, AKA Couch Tour). After their now-traditional winter stop in Mexico for “Playing In The Sand” (and yes, there’s another coming this January), the band got down to business for the summer with a pair of hometown shows at the Bay Area’s Shoreline Amphitheatre, hitting the ground running and maintaining a remarkably high level through pretty much the whole trek. Four years into the run, the level of empathy and telepathy between the players is higher than ever, infusing the interplay with a kind of daredevil glee and a shared delight in finding unexplored terrain inside the most familiar songs. When the tour ended with two great nights in Boulder, it was pretty clear there’d be more to come soon. And so there was, as the band announced a “Fall Fun Run” involving two shows apiece at three venues with a lot of Grateful Dead History, starting on Halloween at Madison Square Garden and then moving on to Nassau Coliseum and Hampton Coliseum. And to top it off and finish off the year, the West Coast gets some love. A foursome of December dates beginning in Los Angeles and ending on New Year’s Eve at San Francisco’s Chase Center, new home of the Golden State Warriors.

Jerry Garcia

Jerry continues to be a formidable presence in the minds, hearts and souls of Dead Heads around the world, and the appetite for his music seems to be limitless. Fortunately, the folks tending to the Garcia Family business are right on top of things and keep delivering the goods.

This past year’s offerings have included Volume 11 in the GarciaLive series, documenting a gem of a show from the Providence Civic Center in November of 1993. Coming down the pike later this year, we’re told will be something those of you who like that 70s Garcia-Saunders era are gonna love, but that’s all the beans we can spill on that one for now. Tribute events celebrating Jerry have remained popular, from the Jerry Nights held by the San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox to the annual Jerry Day at San Francisco’s McLaren Park. Before the year is out, there will be at least one more event of note: “Home For The Holidays: Celebrating Jerry Garcia,” held, most appropriately, at a venue he loved playing: The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY. The tribute will feature a multi-generational cast including Melvin Seals, Oteil Burbridge, Tom Hamilton, Duane Trucks, Jacklyn LaBranch and Lady Chi.

Two of Jerry’s favorite tools of the trade earned a place of honor recently at one of the world’s great cultural institutions: New York’s Metropolitan Museum Of Art, which hosted a beautifully curated exhibit called “PLAY IT LOUD: Instruments of Rock & Roll.” Jerry’s “Tiger” and “Wolf” guitars were on display alongside a dazzling array of hardware (Wolf did get sprung from its case one afternoon in June, though, so it could travel across the East River and loaned out to John Mayer, who did it full justice at Dead & Company’s Citi Field show).

PHIL LESH

The calendar informs us that on March 15th, 2020, Mr. Philip Chapman Lesh will have successfully completed eighty circumnavigations of the Sun as a passenger on Spaceship Earth. However, some skeptics might be tempted to go back to the calendar store for a refund, convinced that they were sold defective goods, as Mr. Lesh continues to pursue his life’s calling of making music with a level of boundless enthusiasm and unflagging energy that might leave many people half – or even a quarter – of his age gasping for breath. Indeed, if we are to judge by the evidence of his activities in the timespan from late 2018 to the fall of 2019 – when he was, after all, but a mere lad of 78 or 79 – attaining octogenarian status will be nothing but a breeze for Phil. The epicenter of his creative world continues to be Terrapin Crossroads, the music venue/restaurant/community gathering place that Phil and Jill have owned and operated since 2012, and which has been integral ever since to the cultural and social life of its home city of San Rafael, as well as a magnet for Dead Head visitors from around the globe. While the main attraction at Terrapin from the start has been Phil’s own frequent performances with an ever-expanding cast of collaborators – including ticketed shows in the Grate Room, spontaneous free drop-ins in the bar area and outdoor events on the Beach Park stage out back – the venue has also played host to a wide variety of both visiting guests and homegrown talent, the latter comprised of young players who have flourished under Phil’s mentorship, some of whom now form the nucleus of his own primary musical vehicle, the Terrapin Family Band. Foremost among these is Phil’s eldest son Grahame, who quite literally grew up around the music and extended-family atmosphere of the Grateful Dead and has developed into a highly accomplished singer, songwriter and guitarist in his own right. So deep is the talent pool among the TFB and other Terrapin Crossroads regulars that, just as was the case with the Grateful Dead, new collaborative ventures and solo projects have been birthed and nurtured at the venue, including Midnight North (featuring Grahame and TFB vocalist Elliott Peck), Alex Koford’s Colonel and the Mermaids, Ross James and Scott Law’s Cosmic Twang and various others. There have even been spinoffs from the spinoffs, one of the most notable being Elliott Peck’s first solo release, “Farther From The Storm,” a beautiful collection of songs that has the feel of a classic country album.

Of course, Phil doesn’t spend all his time at Terrapin. He and the TFB (as well as occasional other configurations working under the Phil Lesh & Friends banner) still managed to get out and about over the course of the year, maintaining the custom of playing several multi-night residencies annually at impresario Peter Shapiro’s Capitol Theater in Port Chester, NY as well as shows at select venues in other cities and numerous festival dates. Perhaps this past year’s most vivid example of Phil’s inexhaustible zeal for music and fun came during last Spring’s 50th Anniversary New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Part of the magic of JazzFest lies in the fact that there’s so much great music to be found not just on the Fairgrounds that plays host to the main event in the daytime, but in the nightclubs, dive bars and theaters of the Crescent City late into the night (and sometimes the next morning). After playing two nights of shows with the TFB at the Joy Theater, Phil dove deep into the wee-small-hours action, sitting in with Midnight North one late night and Foundations of Funk the next (the latter event producing an unprecedented summit meeting of low-end titans, as Phil jammed with a genuine NOLA legend, bassist and Meters co-founder George Porter, Jr.). And as if that wasn’t enough, Phil switched into paying-customer mode to check out really late shows on each of those nights featuring guitarist Will Bernard, keyboardist John Medeski and their respective all-star ensembles, Blue Plate Special and Mad Skillet. After many weary JazzFest revelers had long since gone off to their slumbers, Phil was still going strong and digging the sounds as the dawn grew near.

As we were preparing this edition of the Almanac, it was announced that Phil, on doctors’ orders, had cancelled some late-summer festival dates in order to undergo minor back surgery. We wish him a full and speedy recovery and look forward to a joyous celebration of that very big birthday in 2020.

BOB WEIR

Since the last edition of the Almanac landed on your virtual front porch last fall – apologies if it wound up in your virtual rose bushes instead – Bob Weir has been up to his whiskers in as much activity as ever. In addition to Dead & Company’s hugely successful touring activities, Bob rolled out yet another wrinkle in his never-ending quest for musical variety and adventure: a trio called Bob Weir and Wolf Bros., which teams him with one of his longtime associates and pals, Jay Lane on drums and, relatively new to our little world but well-known to music aficionados worldwide, bassist Don Was – co-founder of the legendary band Was (Not Was), award-winning producer of a stunning range of great artists including Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and Bonnie Raitt and, in recent years, president of perhaps the greatest jazz label of all time, Blue Note Records (it should also be mentioned that Don was the key figure in bringing Bobby and John Mayer together, and so a catalyst in the birth of Dead & Company. Say “thank you, Don!”). The trio format has afforded Bob the opportunity to strip down the music to its bare essentials, opening up all kinds of free space in which to roam within the songs, and suggesting new ways of interpreting the lyrics as well as the instrumental possibilities. While Bob was no stranger to a guitar-drums-bass lineup, having often played in that configuration with Jay Lane and the late Rob Wasserman, Wolf Bros. is a whole other kind of beast, thanks in no small part to some of the ways Weir’s playing style has evolved. Carrying a greater degree of the melodic and harmonic load than he has in other lineups that might feature a more densely orchestrated sound through the use of additional guitarists, keyboardists, etc, Weir rises to the challenge impressively, adding some new tricks to his already well-stocked bag that can make it sound as though he’s playing lead and rhythm guitar simultaneously (something that’s advisable for trained professionals only. Do not try it at home). Another advantage to the trio format is its expandability. Wolf Bros. can (and do) rotate in guest players when the mood and opportunity strike for a few tunes here and there. In the two full tours and shorter sojourns they’ve undertaken since hitting the road last fall, the guys have welcomed a pretty dazzling array of old and new pals to their stages, including Perry Farrell, Kenny Brooks, Tal Wilkenfeld, John Oates, Buddy Miller, Margo Price, Tom Hamilton, Warren Haynes, John Kadlecik, Steve Kimock, Page McConnell, Sasha Dobson and more. Some of the more unusual encounters happened when decidedly non-rock-and-roll instruments were introduced in the mix, like the show in Seattle that added bagpipes (played by Jori Chisholm) in “Wharf Rat,” or the November night in Syracuse on which the band encountered harpist/vocalist Mikaela Davis for the first time (but not the last – her contribution was such a success that it earned the upstate New York resident an invitation to a return visit when the band played Buffalo the following March, as well as a prominent role in the Wolf Bros. set that closed this year’s LOCKN’ festival in Virginia).

In addition to a full performing schedule (made even more so by his penchant for reversing the host-guest equation and sitting in with a range of musicians too numerous to mention here), Bob also remained true to one of his other career-long passions – staying on the leading edge of innovation in musical instrument design and technology. This year’s most significant reflection of that preoccupation was the latest product of Bob’s relationship with the venerable guitar company D’Angelico, which issued the new Bob Weir Bedford signature model – a solid-body instrument that’s being praised for its capability to deliver an astonishing range of tones, from clean jazz to country twang to metal crunch, with all the stops in between. The original has become one of Bob’s primary stage axes with Dead & Co. and Wolf Bros., and now the production model is available to all.

MICKEY HART

Ask Mickey Hart where he’s been hanging out lately when he’s not onstage and he’ll likely give you one of his patented rhythm devilish grins and confide…

“The DRONE ZONE.”

Yes, Mickey’s seriously into drones. No, not those annoying remote-controlled flying devices that spy on us from above. He’s talking about drones in the realm of sound – low-frequency tones that you feel as much as you hear, that shake the earth, rattle your bones and, those who study the science of sound believe with growing excitement, can heal our bodies and souls. You may have become most familiar with drones in the Grateful Dead realm through Mickey’s mesmerizing deployment of them via the marvelous device called “The Beam,” which he’s been using and refining since the Dead’s final, and which now can be experienced to their fullest effect in the Rhythm Devils sequences of Dead & Company shows. The fervor of Mickey’s advocacy of drones is fully consistent with his longtime belief in music as a vehicle of transportation and transformation; as something of real and power spiritual and therapeutic value and not just entertainment.

Just a few of the qualities Mickey attributes to drones:

Drones affect us, move us, inspire us, and transform us as human beings.

Drones are inseparable from our humanity, as everything in the universe is based in vibrations.

Drones are a part of a global tuning fork.

The drone is our connection to the hidden world of the soul, the subconscious.

Drones act as a bridge to the spirit world.

As Mickey has spent much of his life deeply immersed in serious study of the science of sound, especially as it applies to healing and therapeutic purposes, he is confident that these assertions about drones are not just cosmic wishful thinking. He has worked for years as an advocate of the use of music and rhythm in medicine and as medicine, especially as applied to neurological disorders and diseases associated with aging, and the scientific community has increasingly and enthusiastically endorsed such therapies. Over the past year, Mickey was as active as ever in his advocacy, and featured prominently at a series of events at Washington’s Kennedy Center called “Sound Health: Music Of The Mind,” which included lectures and demonstrations on the subject as well as a concert featuring Mickey, his longtime brother in rhythm Zakir Hussain, jazz piano master Jason Moran and the great Metropolitan Opera soprano Renee Fleming, among others. Another highlight of the weekend was a 400-person drum circle led by Mickey.

As ever, the intrepid Mr. Hart is seeking new and unusual sounds to incorporate into the Dead & Company soundscape, and promises some serious time in the Zone at this fall’s shows.

BILL KREUTZMANN

Although Bill Kreutzmann has been associated with some fine musical projects in recent years, such as BK3, 7 Walkers and Billy & The Kids, these days he seems very content with Dead & Company as his one and only band of the moment — and increasingly has been staying close to home during his time off the road. Of course, when “home” is the island paradise of Kauai, who can blame him? Billy takes pleasure in tending to his organic farm and indulging his passion for all things related to the ocean. He is also active in several favorite causes, including environmental protection and voter registration. In the latter area, he is particularly avid in his support of the Cannabis Voter Project, which seeks to educate Americans as to the ways that active participation in democracy can positively effect change in cannabis laws and help those incarcerated for nonviolent crimes relating to recreational substances.

Something to look forward to is a new project from Bill’s son Justin Kreutzmann – a talented filmmaker whose next project is called “Let There Be Drums.” It’s a look into the world of percussion featuring some of its greatest practitioners – which naturally include the elder Mr. Kreutzmann and his partner Mr. Hart, who both serve as executive producers on the film.

FRIENDS AND RELATIONS

JOHN MAYER



One of the great musical surprises of the past few years has been the story of John Mayer, years into a career as a hugely successful singer-songwriter-popstar-blues-guitarist and bearer of a few other notable hyphens, added yet one more to his collection when he not only fell head over heels for the music of the Grateful Dead, but actually wound up in a band with a bunch of ‘em, and wound up feeling like he’d found a new home. Four years into the dream, he’s still deeply thankful for his good fortune, and that sense of gratitude has become ever more evident in the way he conducts his “other” career. His own headlining live shows have become more expansive and wide-ranging in scope, aided by his decision to tour without opening acts and instead play two long sets — hmmm, where do you think he gotidea? — giving him and his great band more space to stretch out. Although his audiences are demographically quite different from what you’d expect at a Dead & Co. show (although there’s more crossover all the time), John says that the communitarian vibe he’s come to love in his “side” gig now suffuses his dates as well. As he wrote to his fans on his Instagram feed after he ended his summer tour: “Dead & Company taught me the ‘we’ of you and me.”

OTEIL BURBRIDGE



Oteil had another hugely productive and creative year, beginning in late 2018 with a successful run of shows under the banner of Oteil & Friends, some of said friends including John Kadlecik, Eric Krasno, Jay Lane, Melvin Seals, Natalie Cressman and Jennifer Hartswick. He and Krasno reunited a couple of more times during the year, with Oteil sitting with Eric’s band Soulive during their 10th “Bowlive” residency at Brooklyn Bowl. The Lockn’ Festival saw another Oteil and Friends lineup (on his birthday) that included Krasno, Seals, Lane, Hartswick, Cressman, Neal Casal, Duane Betts, Lamar Williams, Jr. and Alfreda Gerald, plus Bob Weir sitting in on a couple of tunes (sadly it would be Neal’s last performance, as we lost him two days later). As summer wound down, Oteil joined with some old friends — Phish keyboardist Page McConnell and New Orleans funk drum titan Russell Batiste — in a reunion (with added guitarist Adam Zimmon) of Vida Blue, a band they played in together in the early 2000s. A new album and a brief tour ensued, to great response, and more to come.

JEFF CHIMENTI



Jeff is featured on a recently issued CD called TRI Sessions, Volume 2 – by the jazz quartet Fog, made up of a stellar cast of Bay Area players including, in addition to Jeff, drummer Brian Melvin, bassist Peter Barshay and guitarist Brad Buthe. Chimenti has also continued to gig with the Golden Gate Wingmen (with John Kadlecik, Reed Mathis and Jay Lane), who played a club date in New Orleans during Jazzfest, in a week that also saw Jeff playing with the NOLA/GD hybrid Voodoo Dead and sat in with Joe Russo’s Almost Dead.

R.I.P. NEAL CASAL

1969-2019