Happy Birthday Old Man

Jerry Garcia would’ve turned 70 on August 1st, and his fellow guitarist in the Grateful Dead, Bob Weir, is throwing a musical bash of sorts. Called "Move Me Brightly," the event brings together an all-star group of musicians from varied backgrounds who, under Weir's stewardship, will perform a couple hours' worth of Garcia material tonight for a free webcast.

The songs will range from Grateful Dead classics to cuts Garcia performed with his solo band. While nobody in the large ensemble of musicians – a rotating cast (including members of Phish, the Hold Steady, Vampire Weekend and more) that will number near 20 by the night's end – will attempt to replicate Garcia's solos or fill his space, Weir says that Garcia's voice will be represented by the music itself.

"You find Jerry in the songs," Weir told Rolling Stone during a break in rehearsals on Thursday. "And he's amply there." Since Garcia was known never to play a song the exact same way twice, Weir says that any new interpretation is just as valid as the original: "The beauty of it is how Jerry manifests himself, how he reveals himself, to the individuals."

 

For "Move Me Brightly," in addition to Grateful Dead members Weir and Donna Jean Godchaux, those individuals will include Phish's Mike Gordon, Furthur's Joe Russo and Jeff Chimenti, the Hold Steady's Craig Finn and Tad Kubler, Vampire Weekend's Chris Tomson, the Yellowbirds' Sam Cohen and Josh Kaufman, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals' Neal Casal and Jon Graboff and the Black Crowes' Adam MacDougall, as well as singer-songwriters Jim Lauderdale, Jonathan Wilson, Cass McCombs and Harper Simon.

During rehearsals, actor Luke Wilson was on hand interviewing members of Garcia's family for a documentary directed by Justin Kreutzmann, son of Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann. The footage will air during a break in the live performance tonight.

BonnnaWWWWHOO

Returned to Bonnaroo Music Festival this summer, held about 70 miles away from Nashville, Tennesse wa Phish, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Radiohead. The festival’s most newsworthy event was the return of D’Angelo, who made a great neo-soul album in 2000 and dropped out of sight a year later. His voice and charisma intact, he was singing funk and rock songs with a band led by Ahmir Questlove Thompson of the Roots. And the must-see set on Thursday night was by Alabama Shakes, whose songs reclaim all the spirit of 1960s soul music. The Red Hot Chili Peppers, on Saturday night, were pure musical sinew, an unstoppable, muscle-powered rhythm section knocking out rock and funk ideas from the 1960s through the 2000s, topping them with wild guitar and jumping all over the stage. Phish, Bonnaroo’s Sunday night finale, was in its most euphoric mode, leaning on the part of its repertory with roots in blues, funk and country; the pop-country hit maker Kenny Rogers, who had performed earlier on his own and with Lionel Richie, joined Phish on the huge stage to sing “The Gambler.”  This sounds like a music festival that i should've attended.