Classical Dead

Last Friday, August 1, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra premiered Lee Johnson’s Dead Symphony #6 to a packed house. Ten years in the making, Johnson (pictured above) recently conducted a recorded performance with the Russian National Orchestra (available here and through your favorite download service (iTunes, etc.))

Opening playfully with variations on “Finniculi Finnicula” (a ditty often presenting itself in the Grateful Dead’s onstage tuning jams) this full, twelve movement, symphony swoops into a powerful “Saint Stephen.” While each of the movements centers on a particular song, these are not all straight-and-simple arrangements. “Here Comes Sunshine is recognizable from its themes but is not structured familiarly.

“Mountains of the Moon” is presented tenderly with straightforward layers of strings while “Blues For Allah” opens with a clarinet that snakes to the fore (reminding me of a particular Gershwin composition) and proceeds to provide sufficient bombast to leave me wishing that it were longer.

“Sugar Magnolia” manages to retain its dance-number energy and “To Lay Me Down” stands out as an emotional cornerstone of the work. French horns carry the melody ad strings weave a sonic tapestry.

“If I Had The World To Give” is reminiscent of a George Martin arrangement for The Beatles (in the best way) and, after non-symphonic applause, is followed by “Stella Blue.” Once again, a solo clarinet stands in for Garcia’s vocal. This actually shifts into some of the more interesting music of the night, an orchestral ‘jam’ of crashing percussion, whirring strings and horns; building and nearly exploding before settling back down into a brief “Bird Song.”

“China Doll” marks another emotional touchstone and is rendered beautifully. Before the “Finniculi Finnicula” reprise closes out the work.

All in all, Dead Symphony #6 is a strong work that will certainly appeal to Deadheads and may well attract mainstream classical listeners. I encourage the curious to seek out the official release (linked above @ http://www.deadsymphony.com) for those less certain of their interest, there is an unauthorized recording of the Baltimore Symphony performance in circulation but, if you seek that, please consider purchasing the official release and/or contributing to the BSO…

Listen to samples here.

Primal Dead

The playing of Jerry Garcia both with and without The Grateful Dead ranged in style and scope so broadly that I could connect you to different examples for each day of the year. I’m too lazy to do that, however, so this one week will have to suffice.

Today’s theme is “Primal Dead”.  This the sort of Grateful Dead that seems primitive on some levels but can peel the wallpaper on others. The example I’m going to present is from the Avalon Ballroom on October 12, 1968.  I picked up a tape of this show nearly twenty years ago and it completely blew me away.

 1968-10-12
Avalon Ballroom – San Francisco, CA

Set 1:
Introduction, Dark Star -> Saint Stephen -> The Eleven -> Death Don’t Have No Mercy

Set 2:
Cryptical Envelopment -> Drums -> The Other One -> Cryptical Envelopment -> New Potato Caboose -> Drums -> Jam -> Feedback

Before “Dark Star” Jerry tells the audience, “Hold onto your bodies and relax, everybody. Everybody relax for crissakes, everybody just cool it. Everything’s gonna be alright. We’re gonna play here until, until uh, until we drop.“

 

This show captures the two powerhouse psychedelic dance suites that the band had, at this point, honed to a razor’s edge. The “Dark Star” is bubbly and danceable (Weir introduces it as a “foxtrot” & “ladies’ choice”!)  “The Eleven” is a certified ripper. “Death Don’t Have No Mercy” is dark apocalyptic and mournful… Jerry’s vocal is terrific. Set two is nonstop madness. “New Potato Caboose” is an angular Phil Lesh composition that will warp your sense of time. I can’t wait to listen to this again.

Head to the next page for the stream. Continue reading →

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

I posted this last year on August 9 and, while it may seem cheap to repeat a post, this is something I cannot visit too often. Here’s some of what I wrote last year:

Not long after Jerry passed, something unexpected arrived in my mailbox. Actually, it was not so much unexpected as it had been forgotten. Earlier in the year, Jerry and his side band had recorded two songs for the soundtrack to the film, Smoke. In a mailer from The Grateful Dead or, perhaps in Relix magazine, I had spotted an offer for a free videocassette of the music video for one of the songs. Although it was noted as a very limited offer, I sent away and promptly forgot. That is, until one day, I opened my mailbox and found a mailer inside.

I rushed inside and popped in the video as I read the enclosed note. The note said that they had been flooded with requests after Jerry’s passing and that I was one of the ‘lucky few’ whose request they would be able to fill. The music started and I saw his face and I cried. It was not the first time I’d cried since that day, twelve years ago, when Jerry passed. This time, however, was the first time my tears could resolve into a smile. Things would get better. Life would go on. Tears are normal.

As they say, “When a lovely flame dies, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.”

 [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEuJqlrfEZ0[/youtube]

Happy Birthday, Jerry Garcia

Jerry 71

Today marks Jerry Garcia’s 66th birthday and the beginning of our second annual Jerry “Week”.

Our first entry features an excellent soundboard recording of one of my favorite shows:

1973-06-10
RFK Stadium

Set 1
Morning Dew, Beat It On Down The Line, Ramble On Rose, Jack Straw, Wave That Flag, Looks Like Rain, Box Of Rain, They Love Each Other, The Race Is On, Row Jimmy, El Paso, Bird Song, Playing In The Band

Set 2
Eyes Of The World -> Stella Blue, Big River, Here Comes Sunshine, Around And Around, Dark Star -> He’s Gone -> Wharf Rat -> Truckin’, Sugar Magnolia

Set 3
It Takes A Lot To Laugh It Takes A Train To Cry, That’s All Right, Mama, The Promised Land, Not Fade Away -> Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad -> Drums -> Not Fade Away, Johnny B. Goode

From the opening strains of “Morning Dew”, right on through to “Johnny B. Goode”, this show smokes and burns up with crazy, high energy. “The Eyes of the World” is a personal favorite. Also on the bill that day? The Allman Brothers.

To hear the stream, continue to the next page.

Continue reading →

Phish News?

Ok. I know I told you last month not to gas up the microbus just yet but the way these gas prices are heading, you might wanna go ahead so you’ll be ready for what might just happen “pretty soon.”

Those are the words of Mike Gordon when talking to WNEW about the possibility of Phish doing something (what, exactly, they don’t seem to have decided,) in the future. Check out the full article (including audio of the the interview) here.

 

In other vaguely Phish-related news, it turns out guys behind the electro/dance/pop/rock sensation, MGMT have something to say about the Jamband scene. Spinner‘s Concert Blog caught up with them at Bonnaroo. They professed their secret love for Jambands in general and then went on to blame “bad imitators of Phish” for ruining the scene. Read all about it here.

I guess now I can confess my appreciation for their album, Oracular Spectacular. It’s really groovy stuff.  (And that, friends, is my shortest album review, ever.)