#darkstarathon

With Stanley Jordan Co-piloting, Phil Lesh & Friends Find the Promise of Darkstarathon

Everyone except Grahame Lesh was seated when Darkstarathon episode 7 began its journey across the cosmos.

And of course drummer John Molo, keyboardist Jason Crosby and pedal-steel guitarist Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz were. And being 84, Phil Lesh can do whatever the fuck he wants.

Which brings us to Stanley Jordan, whose unconventional playing style lent a bit of jazz to the proceedings as Lebowitz, Crosby, Molo and Lesh the elder kept things misty and primordial while Lesh the younger occasionally quoted the titular song.

Before long, even he was seated on his amp as this Darkstarathon lived up to the series’ initial promise of a never-ending “Darkstar.” Episode No. 7 is 27 minutes of instrumental music in which the spirit of adventurism ruled and in-the-moment composition and improv was all that mattered.

A hint of “West L.A. Fadeaway” bubbled to the surface around the 13-minute mark before elements of “Slipknot!” emerged over Molo’s marching fills.

As this dissolved, Lebowitz switched to acoustic and the band gurgled back down to formlessness as young Lesh strummed major chords and the sextet remained on the fly.

“Cassidy?”

No.

“Scarlet Begonias?”

No.

“I Know You Rider?”

Yes. But wordless with the guitarists lightly tracing the vocal lines.

Minute 23: “Darkstar” re-re-emerges; Grahame Lesh, Lebowitz and Jordan “singing” with their respective six-strings.

Shall we go?

Indeed.

Read Sound Bites’ previous “Darkstarathon” coverage here.

No Songs, Lots of Teasers in “Darkstarathon” Episode 9

There’s a big, gurgling jam with a discernible rhythm flowing beneath it that finds the oft-synthy Adam MacDougall spending some time on Terrapin’s in-Clubhouse piano. He drives the band into a higher gear and eventually back down toward “Terrapin Station,” which never evolves beyond the tease stage, before Grahame Lesh plays “Darkstar”’s vocal lines over space-jazz jamming.

From here, it’s a similar exploration of the contours of “Let it Grow,” albeit at half-speed, as the temporary Phil Lesh & Friends quintet - also featuring guitarist Stu Allen and drummer Jeremy Hoenig - honors the former Grateful Dead bassist’s sonic vision for “Darkstarathon” in episode 9.

The titular song returns around 24 minutes in, this time more fully formed and deliberate, before dissolving into an improvised conversation between Allen and Grahame Lesh as the rhythm section tiptoes in lockstep below in a kind of bastardized paean to “West L.A. Fadeaway.”

Then … “Space” as both guitarists kneel at their pedals for an ethereal fade that leaves Lesh the elder smiling on his swivel stool.

Read Sound Bites’ previous “Darkstarathon” coverage here.

This is the same band that released last week the ultimate sandwich jam, the Playing in the Band>Uncle John’s Band>Morning Dew>Uncle John’s Band>Playing in the Band that was performed a few times in 1974. They handled it capably as a lean band with Adam MacDougall’s featured keyboards actually not all that present; Jeremy Hoenig’s drums, heavy on the tom toms, quite tasty; the Stu Allen/Grahame Lesh guitar duo meshing nicely; and lots of room for PHIL LESH to drive the bus.

This 30+ minute jam was more of the same but even more free form. MacDougall though was more prominent and the maestro was even more adventurous. It was all instrumental but they wandered into the actual Dark Star theme twice with definite bits of Terrapin, that big Let It Grow outro riff jam, and maybe West LA Fadeaway. It was very exploratory, so I’d like to believe that it was all in the moment. But it was also efficient and not self-indulgent, at least to an aficionado who has endured complaints from outsiders about the endless noodling of Grateful Dead music for a half a century.

While this one made me very happy and, locked in to the Dark Star theme twice and had a fairly clear West LA Fadeaway theme and a developed Know You Rider jam, this one has little for anyone new to this music. It is not introductory at all.

It’s an almost 30 minute instrumental and the three guitars and electric piano occupied the same sonic space, though Dan Lebowitz’s 15 minutes on pedal steel added some color. Stanley Jordan’s tapping (very piano inspired he explained) was too buried and therefore his jazz sensibilities also couldn’t be too prominent. Interestingly, Grahame Lesh added more than I often hear from him.

Still this exploration gave PHIL LESH lots to work with as he played with the possibilities and gave back more. Another subtlety was that John Molo had the chops, power, and experience to lead jams not just respond to them.

All that said and probably for all those selfsame reasons, it was right in my wheelhouse.

Darkstarathon Ep. 6 Crashes

The thing about experiments is they don’t always pan out. And a bunch of musicians getting together for the first time and trying to conjure groupthink on demand is the very example of experimentation.

For Episode 6 of Phil Lesh’s ongoing “Darkstarathon,” the former Grateful Dead bassist was accompanied by North Mississippi All Stars Luther (guitar) and Cody (drums) Dickinson; guitarists Stu Allen and Grahame Lesh; pianist Holly Bowling; and singer Elliott Peck. And despite the massive combination of talent in the kitchen, their stew was thin and unsatisfying.

More riffing than jamming, more noodling than steering toward a musical finish line, the hourlong session is punctuated by long stretches of wordless sound - not necessarily a bad thing, but boring in this case - interrupted by such vocal train wrecks as “Viola Lee Blues,” “China Doll” and a turgid “Smokestack Lightning.”

“(Turn on Your) Lovelight” and “Deep Elem Blues,” sung by Peck and Luther Dickinson, respectively, are simply amateurish, though Bowling, as has often happened in these Clubhouse Sessions, in again in top form.

Lesh the elder had a good idea in putting this group together. The experiment, unfortunately, didn’t pan out as expected.

Read Sound Bites’ previous “Darkstarathon” coverage here.

Phil Lesh Brings Blueprint to Fifth Darkstarathon - the Grateful Dead’s Feb. 18, 1971, Show

Phil Lesh brought a blueprint to his latest “Darkstarathon” in the form of the Grateful Dead’s Feb. 18, 1971, concert.

Speaking with bandmates/Friends Holly Bowling (keys), Alex Koford (drums) and guitarists Stu Allen and Grahame Lesh, the former Grateful Dead bassist says he’s lately been enamored with the “Beautiful Jam” from the aforementioned gig and wants to play around with it. And given that Bowling long ago transcribed the thing, it’s on.

“How many other bands can you think of that there’s this huge amount of people that can hear a few notes from a particular performance - it wasn’t even the song, but was a particular piece of improvisation decades ago - and all be like, (snaps fingers), ‘I know exactly what that is?’,” Bowling says.

The 45-minute, in-studio performance at Terrapin Clubhouse finds the band undertaking fresh, formed and formless exploration; ceding the titular song’s verses to guitars while singing the middle eight; playing full versions of “West L.A. Fadeaway” and “Wharf Rat;” and digging into the jam that is the current apple of Phil Lesh’s ear.

Poor singing be damned, the playing is both beautiful and “Beautiful,” with Bowling, Allen and Koford being the MVPs of “Darkstarathon” No. 5.

Read Sound Bites’ previous “Darkstarathon” coverage here.

I saw most of this as it was premiering, so that’s a treat. But I missed the introductory “seminar” wherein the professor frames the ensuing discussion in terms of the 2/18/71 Beautiful Jam, a transcendent 5 minutes between Wharf Rat (today’s closer) and Dark Star which today kicks in around the 11 minute mark. So while I probably missed the explicit evocation of the Beautiful Jam, I just happily had several beautiful jams with vocal interludes of verse 2 of the never-ending Dark Star, West LA Fadeaway, and Wharf Rat along with several instrumental teases.

Lesh himself shone particularly in the quiet parts and I treasure a few days of seeing Jack Casady and Phil Lesh on the streams suggesting possibilities of what the bass can do. Drummer Alex Koford was understated but solid, a competent rock drummer. Grahame Lesh was more sensitively locked in than I’ve seen him. Stu Allen was up a notch particularly as he and everyone had Holly Bowling pushing him along.

She is different than Bruce Hornsby but both are/were really creative with this canon. And as good as Brent Mydland and Jeff Chimenti were/are, she adds something special and is a presence. She moves jams around and makes it all keyboard-centric. She and Allen are on the same side and you could see her influence on his ideas.

Last time, she teased Allen about his homework for China Cat>The Eleven exercise, but she was the one today who had done the analysis on the Beautiful Jam. She also got the last word in the discussion segment on how special it is that a one time jam can become part of this canon for the band and the fans.

Lesh promises more jams to come, certainly Spanish and Mind Left Your Body but maybe Feelin’ Groovy and even Mountain.

I’ve been reading reviews of 1990s GD shows that are candid and nuanced that do find nuggets where Garcia pulls it together. But they are sad documents of decline. I was at 1994 and 1995 shows and was glad I was there after a 17 year hiatus. No it wasn’t the glory days but it was them.

I have tried to be candid and worried that PHIL LESH was not only less prominent in the mix and less swooping, but less engaged and playing safer. I don’t think that’s true. He is up in the mix and so it’s easier to tell that he’s thoroughly engaged if subtler. I hope this is not rationalization, but

I’m hooked and do treasure these opportunities to see him create this atmosphere and take us and bandmates along. The players are worthy but derivative in the way that anyone playing driving saxophone over swirling modal piano is derivative of Coltrane/Tyner or beboppers, particularly altoists, are derivative of Parker or Baroque composers are derivative of Bach (though we may all be). It was good to finally see Barry Sless on guitar, not pedal steel. I don’t know if it makes him more or less derivative to be the one dropping teases (of Cryptical Envelopment, Here Comes Sunshine, Help on the Way, Scarlet Begonias at least) or whether he is the most adventurous. Stu Allen is solid but maybe a little harsh in tone; his singing certainly is—and Lesh is even worse. John Molo is, as always, a wonder and with Lesh and Sless ready for the possibilities in the music.

Darkstarathon episodes are straight through jams and this one had more distinct sections of that than, despite Sless’ teases, than songs in the middle of the jams. Interesting selections—Ramble On Rose and Jack-a-Roe—to jam in and out of, but that’s part of the aesthetic Lesh keeps alive.

Is Lesh in decline? Yes, but not like Garcia. Not like Garcia because? It’s not drugs? Because Lesh is 30 years older? Because it’s not in front of tens of thousands people a night paying top dollar? Because this music is a gift (and it is a gift of unadorned intimacy. I don’t begrudge Dead and Company the Sphere run, but that leaves me cold.)?

I look forward to next time, glad that there will be one.