JAZZ IS DEAD
''GREAT SKY RIVER''
JULY 31 2001
67:59
1/China Cat Sunflower
Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter]/5:41
2/Estimated Prophet
John Perry Barlow / Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter/15:23
3/St. Stephen/The Eleven
Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter/12:22
4/Drums & Jam
Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter/4:07
5/Blues for Allah
Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter/3:20
6/Terrapin Station/Dark Star
Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter / Bill Kreutzmann Jazz Is Dead/17:40
7/Morning Dew
Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter/9:26
Jimmy Herring /Guitar
Alphonso Johnson /Bass
T Lavitz /Keyboards
Rod Morgenstein /Drums
REVIEW
by Paula Edelstein
Jazz Is Dead, one of America's premier jam bands, delivers their breakthrough recording with Great Sky River. Recorded "live" at the IMAC Theater in Huntington, NY, with Jimmy Herring on guitar, Alphonso Johnson on bass, T Lavitz on keyboards, and Rod Morgenstein on drums, the band plays a powerful, high-energy set that features their rock chops in all their jam band glory. Three extended jams -- "Estimated Prophet," "St. Stephen/The Eleven," and "Terrapin Station/Dark Star" -- form the heart and soul of the show and the band's true calling. Lovers of groove, electronica, and rock guitar pyrotechnics will find themselves ear deep in the guitar wizardry of Jimmy Herring on these jams. Absent is drummer Jeff Sipe, but Rod Morgenstein definitely holds down the rhythm section with an unreal and potent drum solo on "St. Stephen/The Eleven." T Lavitz goes the distance and plays an intense set as does Alphonso Johnson, with his basslines speaking out as much more than an appendage to Lavitz's keyboards or Herring's guitar. Great Sky River exceeds the group's 1999 "live" release, Laughing Water: Wake of the Flood Revisited -- which also explored and featured classic Grateful Dead compositions -- because the performance was not altered or overdubbed. This CD is truly "live" and a cool 21st century representation of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter's ripe rock repertoire.
BIOGRAPHY
by Bill Meredith
Tribute albums became very popular in the 1990s, but the members of Jazz Is Dead sidestepped the accompanying clichés of most tributes with their 1998 Grateful Dead concept CD Blue Light Rain. The four jazz fusion veterans -- bassist Alphonso Johnson (Weather Report), keyboardist T Lavitz (Dixie Dregs), guitarist Jimmy Herring (Aquarium Rescue Unit), and drummer Billy Cobham (Mahavishnu Orchestra) -- performed instrumental versions of Grateful Dead classics, at once showing the influence of jazz fusion on the Dead and the quartet's playing and arranging prowess. Cobham, Johnson, and Lavitz were known commodities through their previous band affiliations, but Blue Light Rain proved to be a coming-out party for Herring. A player of immense skill who had subbed for Dickey Betts in the Allman Brothers, Herring was nonetheless underrated through the relative anonymity of his primary groups, Aquarium Rescue Unit and Frogwings. On tracks like "Crazy Fingers," "Dark Star," and the closing, live "Blues for Allah Medley," Herring soars over Lavitz's tasty keyboard work and the rhythmic muscle of Johnson and Cobham.
For their next CD, Jazz Is Dead chose to interpret the Grateful Dead's 1973 Wake of the Flood album in its entirety. Cobham's departure opened the door for two drummers -- Jeff Sipe and Rod Morgenstein -- who played separately and together during the four nights of recording. Vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux reprised some of her original vocal intros for the Dead; guest violinist Vassar Clements ("Sunshine Jam") and guitarists Steve Kimock ("Stella Blue") and Derek Trucks ("Row Jimmy") add icing to some of the Dead's most jazz-influenced pieces. With a near-endless Grateful Dead discography to pick from, Jazz Is Dead has the talent and material to become one of the world's most popular and original cover bands.
''GREAT SKY RIVER''
JULY 31 2001
67:59
1/China Cat Sunflower
Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter]/5:41
2/Estimated Prophet
John Perry Barlow / Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter/15:23
3/St. Stephen/The Eleven
Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter/12:22
4/Drums & Jam
Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter/4:07
5/Blues for Allah
Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter/3:20
6/Terrapin Station/Dark Star
Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter / Bill Kreutzmann Jazz Is Dead/17:40
7/Morning Dew
Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter/9:26
Jimmy Herring /Guitar
Alphonso Johnson /Bass
T Lavitz /Keyboards
Rod Morgenstein /Drums
REVIEW
by Paula Edelstein
Jazz Is Dead, one of America's premier jam bands, delivers their breakthrough recording with Great Sky River. Recorded "live" at the IMAC Theater in Huntington, NY, with Jimmy Herring on guitar, Alphonso Johnson on bass, T Lavitz on keyboards, and Rod Morgenstein on drums, the band plays a powerful, high-energy set that features their rock chops in all their jam band glory. Three extended jams -- "Estimated Prophet," "St. Stephen/The Eleven," and "Terrapin Station/Dark Star" -- form the heart and soul of the show and the band's true calling. Lovers of groove, electronica, and rock guitar pyrotechnics will find themselves ear deep in the guitar wizardry of Jimmy Herring on these jams. Absent is drummer Jeff Sipe, but Rod Morgenstein definitely holds down the rhythm section with an unreal and potent drum solo on "St. Stephen/The Eleven." T Lavitz goes the distance and plays an intense set as does Alphonso Johnson, with his basslines speaking out as much more than an appendage to Lavitz's keyboards or Herring's guitar. Great Sky River exceeds the group's 1999 "live" release, Laughing Water: Wake of the Flood Revisited -- which also explored and featured classic Grateful Dead compositions -- because the performance was not altered or overdubbed. This CD is truly "live" and a cool 21st century representation of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter's ripe rock repertoire.
BIOGRAPHY
by Bill Meredith
Tribute albums became very popular in the 1990s, but the members of Jazz Is Dead sidestepped the accompanying clichés of most tributes with their 1998 Grateful Dead concept CD Blue Light Rain. The four jazz fusion veterans -- bassist Alphonso Johnson (Weather Report), keyboardist T Lavitz (Dixie Dregs), guitarist Jimmy Herring (Aquarium Rescue Unit), and drummer Billy Cobham (Mahavishnu Orchestra) -- performed instrumental versions of Grateful Dead classics, at once showing the influence of jazz fusion on the Dead and the quartet's playing and arranging prowess. Cobham, Johnson, and Lavitz were known commodities through their previous band affiliations, but Blue Light Rain proved to be a coming-out party for Herring. A player of immense skill who had subbed for Dickey Betts in the Allman Brothers, Herring was nonetheless underrated through the relative anonymity of his primary groups, Aquarium Rescue Unit and Frogwings. On tracks like "Crazy Fingers," "Dark Star," and the closing, live "Blues for Allah Medley," Herring soars over Lavitz's tasty keyboard work and the rhythmic muscle of Johnson and Cobham.
For their next CD, Jazz Is Dead chose to interpret the Grateful Dead's 1973 Wake of the Flood album in its entirety. Cobham's departure opened the door for two drummers -- Jeff Sipe and Rod Morgenstein -- who played separately and together during the four nights of recording. Vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux reprised some of her original vocal intros for the Dead; guest violinist Vassar Clements ("Sunshine Jam") and guitarists Steve Kimock ("Stella Blue") and Derek Trucks ("Row Jimmy") add icing to some of the Dead's most jazz-influenced pieces. With a near-endless Grateful Dead discography to pick from, Jazz Is Dead has the talent and material to become one of the world's most popular and original cover bands.
