Track Listing

1. Vocal Intro/Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleoo
2. Let Me Sing Your Blues Away
3. Row Jimmy
4. Stella Blue
5. Vocal Intro/Here Comes Sunshine/Sunshine Jam
6. Eyes of the World/Two Sisters
7. Weather Report Suite (Pt. 1)
8. Weather Report Suite (Pt. 2) (Let It Grow)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #71896 in Music
• Released on: 2002-04-23
• Number of discs: 1

From Amazon.com
Without offense to the often-brilliant lyricist Robert Hunter, it's always the singing and the words that ring hollow when another band tries to replicate the Grateful Dead experience. With all those pesky words out of the way, Jazz Is Dead are free to lay down 62 minutes of sweeping funk fusion. Not merely a pale imitator, this ferocious quintet adds to the creative process by injecting its own adventurous spirit into the Dead's music, not to mention an assortment of masterful chops. Here the group tackles 1973's Wake of the Flood, one of the Dead's most nuanced records, and the musicians themselves seem to delight in the music's subtle twists (check out bassist Alphonso Johnson's cascading lines in "Row Jimmy"). Even the forgotten "Let Me Sing Your Blues Away" becomes a joyous, organ-fueled romp thanks to T Lavitz's keyboard work. Guitarist Jimmy Herring handles both the restrained vocal parts and the frenzied leads with aplomb. And besides, any chance to hear one of Bill Monroe's old Blue Grass Boys (fiddler Vassar Clements, who appeared on the original album) soar atop the throbbing bass of a former Weather Report member is worth the price of admission. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews

It's a Good Thing
It seems when people cover the Dead they always try to sound to true to the original... that's not what I consider creative. But when a group of hardcore jammers like Jazz is Dead play they put a new spin on things. JiD play tunes with their own interpretations... they know it is futile to try and match the magic that Jerry, Phil, Bobby, et al put forth on stage, so they make the music their own. It's awesome. The hightlights include "Row Jimmy" "Eyes of the World" and a killer "Weather Report Suite"

Grateful Dead Muzak
OK, I really, really, really tried to like this. Really. I mean, these guys are gods in the world of improvisational music.

But "Jazz is Dead" is the name of this band, and the music is just that...dead, lifeless, uninspired. It's like these guys never listened to bootlegs; they've just copied studio Dead, and you know what that is like.

Flawless musicianship, great mixing and perfect engineering do not a good album make. If you like the energy of moe. or Uncle Sammy or String Cheese Incident, you'll be disappointed with this album.

Best of Both Worlds
If you like jazz, particularly fusion, or if you`re a Deadhead, rabid or casual, this CD is for you. Stunning instrutmental versions of the Dead`s Wake of the Flood album, highlighted by Jimmy Herring`s otherworldly guitar licks, Alphonso Johnson`s bass groove, the keyboards of T.Lavitz and the drums of Rod Morgenstein and Jeff Sipe, create a aural delight.

First off the players, boasting impressive pedigrees, show that these are no hacks doing one off covers. Jimmy Herring`s resume is virtual tour of who`s who in the Jam band world, having been a member of the eclectic Aquarium Rescue Unit with Col.Bruce Hampton, touring with the Allman Brothers Band, and soon to be touring with Phil and Phriends, his playing can at times threaten to change everything you thought you knew about guitar playing. Alphonso Johnson has been involved with Weather Report and Santana, T.Lavitz who was a member of fusion pioneers Dixie Dregs, Widespread Panic and Starship, and Rod Morgenstein, also of the Dregs, and Jeff Sipe, a member of ARU and Leftover Salmon.

There are also guests Vassar Clements violin God, one time Dead back up vocalist Donna Godchaux, guitarist Steve Kimock, who makes an explosive duo with Jimmy, and present ABB member and guitar jedi, Derek Trucks.

Then the music. Taking one of the Dead`s more explorative albums, JID takes it to an even higher level, showing that when take incredible music, add extroadinary musicians, it can create a masterpiece that can warp your mind. This just proves that music is music, and in the right hands even wonderful music can create something equally beautiful.

This should also serve to whet your appetite for their new soon to released project for their upcoming tour, where they will be doing acoustic versions of two more classic CD`s in the Dead canon Workingman`s Dead and American Beauty. What a live set that would be.