Laughing Water

Review The Grateful Dead's poly-stylistic body of work has allured such jazz heavyweights as Ornette Coleman and David Murray. Most recently, the Dead's music - a melange of folk, blues, rock, country, and collective improvisation - has inspired a group of fusioneers to pick up the torch and call themselves Jazz Is Dead. The group's second album, Laughing Water, instrumentally recreates Jerry Garcia and company's 1973 classic, wake of the flood. It was recorded live during four nights on a spring 1999 American tour. After former Dead singer Donna Jean Godchaux briefly introduces the proceedings with a ghostly, heavily-reverbed vocal line, the band jumps into "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleoo." Here, guitarist Jimmy Herring's sharp tone and use of sustain evoke Garcia's elegiac lyricism without imitating the man's style altogether. On "Eyes of the World" and "Weather Report Suite, Part Two," former Dixie Dreg organist T Lavitz plays with a sense of nostalgia for original Dead keyboardist Ron "Pigpen" McKernan. And where Jazz Is Dead's first disc, Blue Light Rain, was powered by drummer Billy Cobham, here Lavitz's Dregs mate Rod Morgenstein takes over percussion duties with rocking, yet finely nuanced, attention to detail. One of the disc's meatiest sections occurs when the band extends "Here Comes Sunshine" into a wild eight-minute jam with Vassar Clements on violin and Allman Brother Derek Trucks on slide guitar. It's here that the Dead's captivating blend of styles emerges in all its joyous American beauty. --- Larry Nai, JAZZIZ Magazine Copyright © 2000, Milor Entertainment, Inc. -- From Jazziz
ASIN: B00000JLMH
VSKU: DBV.B00000JLMH.G
Condition: Good
Author/Artist:Jazz Is Dead
Binding: Audio cd
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