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Last Thanksgiving was the 40th anniversary of perhaps the most important concert event in rock ’n’ roll history. The Last Waltz was promoter Bill Graham’s grandest achievement of his career. Pulling off an unprecedented pre-show Thanksgiving dinner for a couple thousand lucky attendees for what was said to be The Band’s final concert at the legendary Winterland Auditorium in San Francisco.
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In the fall of 1991, the Jerry Garcia Band embarked on their extensive first Fall Tour since 1984. The previous year, the iconic guitarist and bandleader hadn’t taken his band off of the West Coast. The Warfield in San Francisco stood as their home turf. While 1990 and 1991 are both revered as phenomenal performance years for both the Grateful Dead and Garcia Band, they are shrouded in loss, with the untimely deaths of keyboardist/vocalist Brent Mydland and legendary promoter Bill Graham.
Grateful Web recently had an enlightening chat with Don Strasburg. He’s a veteran promoter, talent-buyer and co-owner of Boulder’s Z2 Entertainment. Strasburg along with a group of other young entrepreneurs opened The Fox Theater in Boulder, Colorado in 1992. Ambitiously booking New Orleans funk-founders The Meters as their first gig, the rest is history and The Fox is one of America’s top intimate venue spaces.
Grateful Web recently had a unique opportunity to speak with veteran psychedelic guitarist, producer and composer Henry Kaiser. Few have as vast of a musical resume as Kaiser, who has contributed to countless studio recordings both as bandleader and accompaniment. His inventiveness has additionally yielded a long list of film scoring credits and soundtrack work. While Kaiser is frequently busy and rarely promoting a certain singular work, Dylan Muhlberg focused the conversation on Kaiser’s potent new album Ocean of Storms.
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Jazz is thriving elsewhere besides its living alumnus of prestigious inheritors from the classic eras. Much has evolved since the groundbreaking free jazz of the 1950s and 1960s from the likes of Pharaoh Sanders, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman. As some have satirically put it, ornithology or: the study of Bird (Charlie Parker that is) lives on within the experimental giants of our generation.
Recently Grateful Web had another chance to speak with Santa Cruz, California based bandleader, singer, and songwriter Steven Graves. His seventh studio album Captain Soul is indeed his most personal statement to date. In conversation with Dylan Muhlberg, Graves opened up about the collaborative nature of his studio time, music as a guide to self-awareness, and his spirituality as a creative vehicle. His most rocking record yet exposes an artist on a peak of his own journey.
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In a time where the music industry is topsy-turvy, we need artists like Karl Denson more than ever. The multifarious Denson fares innately in different genres, as bandleader or sideman, and paid his dues as a touring musician that came into his own. The San Diego based saxophonist first gained recognition as a member of Lenny Kravitz and quickly soon after broke through in the A-list jazz circuit. His ambitious bop-oriented Chunky Pecan Pie (1994) featured an impressive supporting lineup of Jack DeJohnette & Dave Holland.
Grateful Web recently had a humbling opportunity to speak with Amy Helm, mandolinist, singer/songwriter, and bandleader of The Handsome Strangers. She also cofounded Midnight Ramble Band, whose roots began with her father the late and great Levon Helm, an Arkansan who met a gifted group of Canadian musicians and inevitably formed The Band in 1964.
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2016 was a big year for psychedelic rock pioneer David Nelson and his longtime David Nelson Band. Nelson alongside veteran members Barry Sless (guitars, Pedal Steel Guitar), Mookie Siegel (keyboard, organ, vocals), Pete Sears (Modulus bass, vocals), and John Molo (drums) had their biggest tour in at least a decade, hitting the East Coast and Colorado for the first time in a long time.
Grammy-Award Winning String Wizard, producer, and songwriter John McEuen possesses a keen knack for multitasking. He’s both a renowned picker and anthropological force in roots music. His biweekly syndicated Sirius XM Radio Program; Acoustic Traveler has further uncovered his pursuit of tracing the origins of country, blues, folk, and bluegrass. He rose to prominence as a member of the treasured Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
