To hear the fully produced piece, including the music of Phil Lesh with his own band and the Grateful Dead, hit the play button above.
In the 60 years since the dawn of the Grateful Dead, the band and its loyal fanbase has been well acquainted with tragedy. Hand in hand with the music’s ability to sow joy and inspiration have been the painful losses of members Jerry Garcia, Pigpen, Brent Mydland, Keith Godchaux, and others in and around the band. In October, Phil Lesh – celebrated as a masterful improviser, brilliant composer, and faithful steward of the Dead ethos – joined those ranks at 84.
“His approach to the bass was different than just about anybody you could possibly think of," Tor Krautter told WAMC. "A real pioneering approach to that instrument and how it relates to what is now, really, the jam band scene and such an influence to so many people. So, it's a huge, huge loss.”
Krautter is the Artistic Director of Programming at Berkshire Theatre Group. He’s a fixture of the local music scene and singer and guitarist of Dead Man's Waltz, a band that interprets the works of the Allman Brothers, the Band, and the Grateful Dead.
“I met him once," Krautter said. "I was young. I was 16, and I had a friend who was sort of connected to the Grateful Dead family who took me backstage, and I had a chance to- It was 1986 and it was the Buffalo Fourth of July show with Bob Dylan and Tom Petty and the Grateful Dead. And we got a chance to roam around backstage, and we were actually up on stage, and the Dead had these little cubicles in the back, and they each had their own little section where they'd kind of hang out. And we were walking past one of them, and we heard this voice- Like, hey, kids, what are you doing? And we looked in, and there's Phil. And he invited us in, and we talked to him for a while. He showed us his bass – I think it was one of those graphite Modulus at the time – and had a great conversation, and just the nicest, warmest guy ever.”
For its 13th installment, Krautter has programmed this year’s Dead of Winter Jam concert at the Colonial Theatre around Lesh’s unique contributions to sound. To that end, he’s brought in bassists including John Rider of Max Creek and Klyph Black of The Zen Tricksters.
“We've asked each guest bass player to sing either one of Phil's songs or a song that he used to sing with the Dead," said Krautter. "So you can expect to hear some of that, and then we're just going to mix it up and have them be involved in some of these classic jams that were in part orchestrated by Phil, and something that he had a real hand in. So, I think it's going to be a lot of fun.”
Black first saw the Dead in 1971 at Felt Forum in New York City.
“Almost every show I ever went to, Phil was really who I was listening to," he told WAMC. "I mean, I love Jerry and I love Bobby [Weir], the whole band. But to me, it was always Phil who was taking them in another direction that they might not have thought of.”
In 1979, Black became a founding member of the Zen Tricksters — one of the earliest and longest running Grateful Dead tribute acts. He’s been interpreting Lesh’s musicality for over 45 years.
“He didn't just lay down the groove," said Black. "He kind of made the groove happen in his own way, not just playing roots and fifths like the bluegrass guys. He really knew harmony and how to play over the beat.”
Dead Man’s Waltz bassist Brian O'Connell agrees, noting that Lesh learned to play bass specifically for the Grateful Dead.
“He brings a real amalgam of influences to the table, between understanding the music of J.S. Bach and classical counterpoint from Baroque music- And I know he played violin when he was a kid, and I know he had that influence, and he loved Bach, but he also liked Avant Garde experimental music of the 20th century, and I know he was really into that kind of thing, which would, we would think of as atonal. And so, he brings a huge musical palette to the table when he starts playing bass.”
Connell was actually onstage at the Colonial Theatre performing the music of the Grateful Dead when he heard news of Lesh’s death.
“One thing I reflected on when he passed was, I wish that people would emulate the spirit of the Grateful Dead more than just playing the notes in the songs they play, because they created something unique that was unique to themselves, from their own experiences and their abilities. And it's a wonderful, beautiful canon of music and style of improvisation. But I think a lot of folks, I think they should think more like those guys than play like them. But, certainly, my mind went back to that moment when I was 14 and I had that record and I listened to 'Live/Dead' and just be marveling at the fact that these guys were improvising and it really hit me that that was a possibility in music, and that was really exciting to hear that and stunning.”
The 13th annual Dead of Winter Jam is February 1st at 7:30 at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield. Non-perishable food items brought to the show will be donated to local food pantries.
