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I don’t know why it took so long for me to realize that the very reasonable eight-hour drive from Ottawa to New York City(-ish) would always be a worthy undertaking. I’m a pretty big fan of long-distance driving regardless of the destination, and in this case the destination is one of the major entertainment capitals of this grand planet, so yeah…it’s worth the trip.
Knowing that a pair of concerts featuring my favourite rock bass player leading his band through two sets of music by one of my favourite bands in one of my favourite indoor music venues made the journey on November 7th, 2014 especially worthwhile (in other words: Phil Lesh playing the music of his former band the Grateful Dead in Peter Shapiro’s storied venue, The Capitol Theatre).
Oops, did I say that Phil was leading “his band”? That would be inaccurate, unless one considers the entirety of the jam scene to be Phil’s band (which might not be a wholly unreasonable argument to posit). Y’see, since the tragic demise of the Grateful Dead, Lesh played countless gigs with a revolving door of musicians under the moniker Phil & Friends, groups of ragtag thrown-together conglomerations who step on stage without having rehearsed a note (I bet).
This would seem like a foolhardy and dangerous habit for a rock band but in actuality it generally worked out very great, for three reasons: 1) The players he assembled were usually hotshot musical chameleons that make a habit of playing a variety of gigs with a hodgepodge of other musicians. 2) Though it is unquestionably rock music, the history, tradition, and musical canon of the Grateful Dead is completely in line with a jazz approach, a jazz attitude, and a jazz sensibility so, like jazz players attacking a set of standards the players could easily slide in and out of the gig easier than Autumn Leaves.
And finally, 3) Phil Lesh (1940-2024) was involved. If you know me you’ve heard me rattle on about how in improv music the bass drives the bus, and Phil was the greatest bass driver of them all. Phil was sonic superglue, and with his bass he could bind the most jagged of musical shards into the most beautiful urn, brimming as it was with the ashes of the Dead.
And it’s a good thing too, because he had some rough edges to deal with on this night. I’m not talking about Eric Krasno, a stellar guitarist who can adhere to just about anything. No, I’m talking about ex-Black Crowe Chris Robinson and his fellow Brotherhood musicians that made up the rest of the band. Now, some might say I criticize Chris because I didn’t much like The Black Crowes and because I don’t think he had much to offer to any group I’ve seen him be part of, and in fact those people would be right.
But fortunately I had a wonderful venue with thick drinks easily at hand to distract me and Phil Lesh’s relentless low-end genius to entertain me, both of which easily paved over the mistake of involving the Brotherhood (with honourable mention to the ever-clever Eric Krasno for helping pave the way).
Come to think of it, I’m pretty hard on Warren Haynes when he plays with Phil too. Maybe I just don’t think anyone outside of The Dead can stand toe-to-toe with the man.
Nah. Put Bill Frisell and Derek Trucks beside him on guitar, Brian Blade on the kit and oh, I don’t know, anybody other than the guy he had with him at this show on keyboards and I’m sure my criticisms would fade away.
Love is real.
Todd Man Out 