Jazz Is Dead, one of America's premier jam bands, delivers their breakthrough recording with
Great Sky River. Recorded "live" at the IMAC Theater in Huntington, NY, with
Jimmy Herring on guitar,
Alphonso Johnson on bass, T Lavitz on keyboards, and
Rod Morgenstein on drums, the band plays a powerful, high-energy set that features their rock chops in all their jam band glory. Three extended jams -- "Estimated Prophet," "St. Stephen/The Eleven," and "Terrapin Station/Dark Star" -- form the heart and soul of the show and the band's true calling. Lovers of groove, electronica, and rock guitar pyrotechnics will find themselves ear deep in the guitar wizardry of
Jimmy Herring on these jams. Absent is drummer
Jeff Sipe, but
Rod Morgenstein definitely holds down the rhythm section with an unreal and potent drum solo on "St. Stephen/The Eleven." T Lavitz goes the distance and plays an intense set as does
Alphonso Johnson, with his basslines speaking out as much more than an appendage to Lavitz's keyboards or Herring's guitar.
Great Sky River exceeds the group's 1999 "live" release, Laughing Water: Wake of the Flood Revisited -- which also explored and featured classic
Grateful Dead compositions -- because the performance was not altered or overdubbed. This CD is truly "live" and a cool 21st century representation of
Jerry Garcia and
Robert Hunter's ripe rock repertoire.