In West Marin County, California, on Saturday afternoon, a benefit performance by Skeleton Krewe, a unique trio (Stephen Inglis, Barry Sless, and Rob Barraco) in which each member possesses decades of high-level Grateful Dead-esque experience, was enhanced by the presence of two powerhouse musical guests (Pete Sears and Jay Lane), both of whom have displayed their own improvisational prowess seemingly forever.

On August 13, 1975, The Grateful Dead played a show at the ridiculously small and distinctively decorous Great American Music Hall (GAMH) in San Francisco. This was one of only four concerts the band played that year, all of them in San Francisco. The setlist was mostly comprised of songs from the album Blues for Allah, which had not yet been released. Many Deadheads revere the GAMH performance as an all-time favorite.

More than a dozen compelling West Coast bands known for their improvisational instrumentation, including Karl Denson’s Greyboy Allstars, ALO, New Monsoon, Moonalice, and the Monophonics, highlighted the festivities at the 17th annual Petaluma Music Festival, presented once again at the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds on July 27.

About 200 or so smiling faces gathered in the Berkeley Hills (officially the community of Kensington, Calif.) on a beautiful June 15 afternoon for a musical benefit featuring the acoustic David Nelson Band, Steve Poltz, and Ragged Charms (a one-time ensemble featuring Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz, three fellows from Hot Buttered Rum, Stephanie Salva, and Wally Ingram).

Pearl Jam, My Morning Jacket, and over 25 other acts rocked Napa Valley at the annual BottleRock festival on Saturday, May 25. The music was magnificent, the weather cooperated well enough, and concert attendees rounded out their experience – and perhaps their bellies – with a wide variety of muscats, chardonnays, and provincial farm-to-table cuisine. (This report only covers Saturday.

Last weekend, the legendary jam band Zero concluded a prolific 35th anniversary run aptly named “Back to Zero.” Core members Steve Kimock, Greg Anton, Pete Sears, Melvin Seals, and Hadi Al-Saddoon were joined by friends and family for an invigorating reunion that pleased newer fans and decade-spanning devotees alike.

This incarnation of the band, which was established in the early 1980s, included Melvin Seals (keyboards), Pete Sears (bass, backing vocals), Hadi Al-Saadoon (trumpet, backing vocals), and Sebastian Saint James (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), with Miles Kimock contributing additional guitar passages in the second set. Steve Kimock had worked with Seals and Sears in the recent past, and with Al-Saadoon in Zero’s early days. Saint James, who was new to the Zero fold, gelled well with the group.

Thirty-five years ago, having met when Steve Kimock auditioned for former Grateful Dead members Keith and Donna Jean Godchaux’s Heart of Gold Band (which already had Greg Anton as its drummer), Greg and Steve recorded an album, Greg on drums and piano, Steve on guitars and bass.  Then they started a band to play the music.

The 12th incarnation of the Petaluma Music Festival, proceeds of which are allocated to local public school’s music programs, packed a potent punch on August 3. This year’s all-Bay-Area-band fest’s pleasing musical patchwork, which fueled lively dancing, swaying and foot-tapping, was led by prominent rock ‘n’ jam bands ALO, David Nelson Band, The Mother Hips, Hot Buttered Rum, Blame Sally, New Monsoon, and Royal Jelly Live.

When time and tour schedules allow, members of the Green Leaf Rustlers, an amalgamation of members of several current successful bands, present a stimulating array of classic adaptations of American Country Roots & Blues, including the Bakersfield Sound. Such was the case on March 28 at Sacramento’s enduring rock club, Harlow’s, where the band finished up a tidy 10-date California tour before heading to Alaska for a triad of early April shows.