When I was in college, we used to hang out with The Dead at the local bars where they played for free. Nice people, and I also remember checking out Jerry’s car to see what music cassette tapes he had in there.
The Grateful Dead had one of the most musically aware audiences I’ve ever spent time with. If the music wasn’t happening, they would notice. And when the magic did show up, what a party!
One time at Cal Expo, the Dead closed the 2nd set with “Not Fade Away.” As the band left the stage, we clapped the Bo Diddley beat for them, and kept on clapping. For five minutes, we entertained ourselves with that beat. Dancing and clapping Bo Diddley. No one ever shouted, “More!” No one ever screamed for an encore. We were patient, and we were having fun. And we just kept clapping Bo Diddley until band had had their break, and returned to finish the concert.
The Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY, October 12, 2021
Here's Phil and Friends from their concert last night in New York. The lineup features Warren Haynes and Jimmy Herring, two fine guitarists, along with perennial band mate, drummer John Molo, and Rob Barraco on keys.
Song selection on these teasers from Relix is pretty good: "St. Stephen -> The Eleven" from the first set, and "Uncle John's Band" from the second.
Listen for the fun 11:8 time signature on The Eleven. Count fast, like this: ONE-two-three, ONE-two-three, ONE-two-three, ONE-two.
EDIT: Just played this again, and now I am hearing a kind of shuffle on beats 1-9, where beats 2, 5, and 8 are omitted, so it goes like this: ONE-(two)-THREE, ONE-(two)-THREE, ONE-(two)-THREE, ONE-TWO. Very nice. You can listen here.
Although Jerry Douglas may be better known as a member of Alison Krauss & Union Station, his solo work in bluegrass and old-time music is just as good. "In addition to his fourteen solo recordings," reports Wikipedia, "Douglas has played on more than 1,600 albums."
Here we have Jerry Douglas performing a couple of versions of the Duane Allman tune, "Little Martha."
Enjoy!
A Tribute to Peter O'Donnel, 2017-Jul-13
With Derek Trucks, Live at the Ryman Auditorium, 2020-Feb-29
I'm talking about the Phil Lesh performance of "The Eleven," I posted earlier this week. Perhaps someone will double-check me on this, but now I'm hearing beats on the "AND" that is halfway between beats 2/3, 5/6, and 8/9. Beat "(two)" is silent, so the 11:8 time signature is counted like this:
This is the third time I've tried to count this. It's tricky, but that's what makes these odd time signatures so alluring. Hopefully the third time is the charm.
Clued in to this song from a Korean movie. Shin Hae-chul was an interesting musician spanning decades, mostly experimental stuff but he covered the whole range from metal to pop to rap to jazz. Died at the hands of a shady surgeon. This song is kind of a blend of techno metal and traditional Korean sounds. Different, pretty good.