Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (band, jazz, player, song)
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Loved seeing these guys in the New York Times today. I hate that they called them a tribute band though. They may play mostly Grateful Dead songs, but they are taking them places so different than the Dead that it’s more of an evolution of the music. So cool to have it living on like this.
For my money this is the best band playing right now. Russo has 8 arms, Benevento is a Berklee College of Music jazz keyboardist and the rest of the players are all incredibly talented. Such great energy and musicianship.
Quote:
JRAD, as the quintet is more casually known, is a vehicle for Mr. Russo and four musical friends of at least 20 years — the keyboardist Marco Benevento, the bassist Dave Dreiwitz, and the guitarists (and main vocalists) Tom Hamilton and Scott Metzger — to improvise extravagantly around the Dead’s emotionally sublime and often quirky songwriting. They eschew the laid-back fidelity of both official offshoots like Dead & Company (which includes three of the so-called “core four” surviving band members) and other tribute acts like the Dark Star Orchestra. Think instead of the Dead on a gleeful amphetamine drip.