Home »
Jazz Articles » Album Review » Jazz is Dead: Laughing Water
Jazz is Dead: Laughing Water
On their sophomore release, Jazz is Dead continues their mission of presenting the catalog of the Grateful Dead in sort of a country-rock context, with occasional classical, gospel, and jazz flavoring. It's unpretentious, infectious jamming by musicians with virtuoso chops to burn. The exhuberant "Let Me Sing Your Blues Away" (not a vocal) alternates hard-driving edgy guitar choruses with fleet-fingered, grooving organ. "Row Jimmy" has a laid-back country-rock feel. The next tune, "Stella Blue," begins with an almost-classical fugue, before settling into a country/gospel-flavored ballad. Classical influences rock on "Here Comes the Sun/Sunshine Jam." While the soloing is excellent throughout, the closing "Weather Report Suite, part 2/Let It Grow" (not a reference to the famous jazz ensemble) turns the heat up the highest. Bassist Alphonso Johnson contributes some funky thumb-snapping in places. In other words, boundaries are stretched or even totally disregarded here. There's not much in the way of jazz, traditionally speaking, other than in the quality of the improvization. It's just a musical good time - perfect keg parties or cruising down the highway. (Zebra ZD 44019)
Tracks:Vocal intro/Mississippi Half - Step Toodleoo; Let Me Sing Your Blues Away; Row Jimmy; Stella Blue; Vocal intro/Here Comes the Sun/Sunshine Jam; Eyes of the World/Two Sisters; Weather Report Suite, part 1; Weather Report Suite, part 2/Let It Grow. (62:43)
Personnel
band / ensemble / orchestra
Album information
Title: Laughing Water
| Year Released: 2000
| Record Label: Zebra Records
PREVIOUS / NEXT
Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.
Go Ad Free!
To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to
future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by
making a donation today.