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Grateful Deadication 2

Dave McMurray

Label: Blue Note Records
Released: 2023
Duration: 01:04:50
Views: 864

Tracks

Playing in the Band; China Cat Sunflower; Bird Song; To Lay Me Down; Truckin’; The Other One; If I Had the World to Give; Scarlet Begonias; Crazy Fingers.

Personnel

Additional Personnel / Information

Jamey Johnson: vocals (4); Greg Leisz: pedal steel (4); Larry Campbell: guitar (4); Don Was: bass (4); Bob James: piano (6-7); Oteil Burbridge: vocals (8).

Album Description

Reflecting upon when he first heard the Grateful Dead, McMurray says “The long-form, odd measures and complex chords of the music hooked me immediately. I noticed the songs had great melodies yet held the openness of Miles Davis’ Electric Period. The music was catchy, psychedelic, raw, with the idea that nobody solos/everybody solos—akin to Weather Report. The more I listened, the more I knew these songs would eventually become a vehicle for my jazz expression.”

During the heyday of the Dead’s tireless touring, McMurray was on the road himself, joining now-Blue Note president Don Was in the uncategorizable Was (Not Was) beginning in 1981. McMurray has performed with a stunning roster of legendary musicians, including B.B. King, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Hallyday, Gladys Knight, Albert King, Nancy Wilson, KEM, Bootsy Collins, Herbie Hancock, Geri Allen and Bob James.

In 2018 McMurray joined Don Was for an all-star set at San Francisco’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. The performance featured a surprise appearance by Weir, who had recently enlisted Was and drummer Jay Lane for his new band Wolf Bros, including a rendition of Dead classic “Days Between.”

Grateful Deadication 2 is not only another heartfelt celebration of the Grateful Dead’s brilliant songcraft, but the imagination and soul evident throughout the album exemplify the wide range of McMurray’s influences - from jazz, pop, rock, soul, reggae, R&B, gospel and beyond.