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CD Reviews

The Other Ones "The Strange Remain"
by James Lykos

Following the untimely demise of the grandfathers of the jam band, the Grateful Dead, the world asked what would become of the remaining members. As the central figure of the Dead, Jerry Garcia embodied the heart and soul of the world's greatest rock and roll band; he was their leader, spiritual guru, and one hell of a fine guitarist. Fortunately for their fans, Bobby, Mickey, Phil, and Bruce decided to give it another try as "The Other Ones," only this time expanding on the original lineup to include some of their friends and fellow travelers, saxophonist Dave Ellis, the guitarists Steve Kimock and Mark Karan, and drummer John Molo. What remains is a band committed to continuing their legacy and spirit, but also forging an original sound and retaining the attributes of what made the Grateful Dead the greatest band in the universe.

The Other Ones completely succeed as the bearers of the flame of exploratory and improvisational music while adding new elements to their sound. As an octet, the Other Ones truly exemplify the "Grateful Dead orchestra" in their ability to improvise and use each member not as an individual player, but as elements of an ever-changing stew. The jams do not center on blistering leads and solos by a single guitarist, but instead incorporate each member's talents to create an atmospheric, almost otherworldly musical collage. A prime example of this new focus is evident on the excellent version of "Corrina" contained on disc one. Here, Dave Ellis' saxophone drives the song, supported by the rhythmic undercurrents of John Molo's drums and Mickey Hart's percussion. "Corrina" is a perfect example of the tension and release patterns of the Grateful Dead, but in a new arrangement that highlights the ability of each musician to seek an empathy with the others in the band. It is evident that each member is listening closely to the others, making adjustments to the overall tone of the piece, while contributing a lead when appropriate. The result is a highly organic and fluid piece of musical heaven, augmented by Bob Weir's joyful vocals celebrating the mystical dance. Several other songs, notably, the jazzy "The Other One" and the more rock-oriented versions of "St. Stephen" and "The Eleven" also follow this pattern and rank with among the best work "that other band" committed to record. Of the songs originally performed by the Grateful Dead, "The Other One" is the true standout. The version contained on The Strange Remain is remarkable, basically consisting of a long jam that is a masterpiece of improvisation and group interplay. Gone is the hard opening bass riff, which is replaced by a most subtle rumbling sound that melts into a very rhythmically oriented version of this staple. It is original in every way and is alone worth the price of the album.

While both discs contain a healthy amount of Grateful Dead standards, The Strange Remain is the work of a truly original band, and includes several new pieces absent from the Dead's repertoire. "White-Wheeled Limousine" and "Rainbow's Cadillac" are two examples penned by keyboardist and vocalist Bruce Hornsby. They are two worthy pieces that more than hold their own among the many Grateful Dead songs spread across the two discs. Hornsby's piano shines as one of the outstanding features of The Other Ones. He has the rare ability to invest his playing with elements of classical, jazz, and rock that perfectly offset the driving rhythms and allow for a heightened sense of space and formality in the music. His songs relieve much of the tension inherent in the Other Ones' music while showcasing the abilities of each musician to just relax and play songs instead of the long jams. The best of the new group pieces, "Banyan Tree" is a marvelous, atmospheric journey into the reaches of paranoia that eventually turns on the listener and involves them directly in the music. Mickey Hart's RAMU (random access music universe) creates a world of perfectly realized natural sounds (including birds, monks, and the woods) which add to the musical interplay of the band members. The effect is one of a "ninth musician" who changes the entire atmosphere of the piece; think of a live performance of "Blues For Allah" that includes all the sounds found on the studio version. Phil Lesh does not drop his famous "bombs" in the song, but instead uses his bass to drive a subtle, sinister rhythm that perfectly complements the dark side of the lyrics. I hope that the Other Ones do more in this vein, as the RAMU has the potential to really contribute to the group's overall sound and tone of the pieces.

The Strange Remain is a remarkable album in so many ways that it is difficult to identify just a single overriding reason to listen to it. I could describe the contributions of the individual members in a new context, the acoustic wizardry on "Mountains of the Moon (!)" and "Friend of the Devil," or the sheer excitement of listening to new interpretations of familiar classics. But these are all secondary reasons to my joy of hearing this record for the first time. The true pleasure of listening to this record lies in the ability of the entire band to invest such love and care into the music as to provide the listener with the impression that the spirit of the music never died with one member's passing. The music lives on in the group interplay and empathy each musician feels with each other, and more importantly, in the process of creating music that both draws from and adds to the listener's involvement. This is a truly organic process that exemplifies the link that the Grateful Dead, and indeed, the entire community of their "children" hold with their audience and followers. No, the music never stopped. It instead lives on in the legion of people known as the Grateful Dead.

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Dexter Grove- True
By Chip Schramm

Sometimes it is rewarding to feel like you have accomplished more with less. Take Dexter Grove, for example. At first glance all you have is an acoustic guitarist and a guy on congas. What makes their latest album, True, so enjoyable is the versatility of their music and the honesty of their lyrics. It's only natural that a duo like Charley Orlando and Steve Drizos would derive their sound from folk roots, but the tracks on the CD are much more powerful and driven than someone unfamiliar with their music might suspect. Dexter Grove as a whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. The interplay between the two musicians is different on nearly every track. Orlando and Drizos quickly change beats and rhythms, juxtaposing them to fit the transitions on different songs.

What made this CD enjoyable for me on a personal level is the fact that I heard Dexter Grove play a Sunday show at the Mountain Sun Brewery in Boulder, CO during the summer of '96. I was impressed at the time, but unaware of how driven Charley and Steve were about bringing their music to the masses. In the past few years, Dexter Grove has logged thousands of miles on cross-country tours from California to New Hampshire. This has enabled them the sit in and jam with countless other musicians from Merl Saunders to members of Traffic. They even have a list of all the musicians and bands they have performed with in the last few years. You can check it out on their website www.dextergrove.com.

The album begins the same way that it ends: a lonesome train whistle blows and rolls slowly by. The many hours the band has spent on a tourbus driving from town to town really comes through on this CD. Themes of traveling and searching, both literally and metaphorically, reappear throughout the album. "Lonesome Traveler" and "Road Song" are two songs that employ a brisk, traveling rhythm and a strong, moving hook. The duo shows off their improvisational abilities six minutes into the first song as they build up momentum, jamming to a climax. Each song on the album has a personal touch. On "Road Song" Charley sings about a sort of contented pensiveness; he searches his mind and decides he is satisfied to just be himself. It's this kind of forthright songwriting combined with a moving beat that makes True work.

Songs like "Home" and "Everything" take on a sort of narrative tone, holding Dexter Grove close to its folk roots. The duo tells a story without being preachy. They also show that they can have fun with their music without being cheesy or gimmicky. They do a great job with the tools and talents they possess, no more, no less. There's something very subtle and down-to-earth about Dexter Grove's songs. They describe feelings and yearnings of the everyday man or woman. The title track "True" begins with two minutes of dreamy instrumental jam and then segues into another soulful ballad. Again, the percussion changes and guitar leads give this song its own particular flavor, distinguishing it from the rest.

True to their live performances, Dexter Grove also calls on two other musicians to add a little influence on the CD. Tim Herron, in addition to producing the CD, adds some very crisp pedal steel guitar work to "Passing Time." Greg Gefell did an outstanding job with the arrangement on that number and also puts in a guest appearance on the track. Overall, I feel that Gefell and Herron did an excellent job of mixing and post-production. The guitar tones sound crisp and loud without being overpowering. Vocal levels rise and fall with the pulse of the song, allowing Charley to show a little more emotion than most musicians are able to on a studio album. At the end of the day, Dexter Grove's True is a fun album. It's the kind of CD you'll be happy to put in your car's stereo as you drive off into the sunset.

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Umphrey's McGee: Greatest Hits Volume III
Brian Galante

I'm going to go out on a limb and make an uneducated guess: Some, if not all, of the members of Umphrey's McGee are either music majors or have some training in classical music.

My observation became apparent to me while listening to the fugue-happy "Divisions," the opening track off the Indiana-based quartet's "Greatest Hits Volume III." These boys have some serious talent. (And they have a sense of humor ¯ each track on the back cover lists the "album" it comes from [some of my favorites are "Who Ate My Nuggets?" and Suspended in Cheese] and its "peak chart position.")

But strangely enough, many of the more interesting moments on the album take place during the subtle passages. After five and a half minutes or so of tossing off scales in the opening track, an amazing thing happens: The chops are put to rest, making way for this astonishing flight into atmosphere. It is here, during this quiet excursion, that the sounds of each instrument come together and create something magical. Too bad they decide to cut back into the lyrics about three minutes later, sending the opus back into ELP territory.

Umphery's McGee, however, fortunately does not spend all of its time exercising each musician's ability to shift into odd time signatures or resort to fugue after fugue. Most of the songs do feature time shifts and odd syncopation here and there but more often than not they work. "Bob," one of the more groove-oriented tracks, is able to shift between an extremely danceable progression and schizophrenic, almost blues-like exercises before eventually landing on a funkified variation of the basic theme. As far as brevity goes, "Phil's Farm" is the best example of what they can do in four minutes. Sort of a Yes meets moe., this song is its most radio-friendly track.

Some tunes simply don't work. "FF," while boasting a pleasant tropical lilt, is really nothing more than a generic exercise in reggae with a few twists. "All In Time" would probably sound great in a bar at 1:00 a.m. with its synergistic groove, but comes across as spare on the CD and is about three minutes too long.

The band really shines when it uses its classical influences as a launching pad instead of the rocket itself. "Kimble" is a gorgeous instrumental workout, based around the talents of pianist Joel Cummings. The song sounds as though it is rooted in 18th century classical music. Additionally, "Orfeo" is lifted into the stratosphere with a spiraling jam centered around an orbital riff courtesy of Cummings.

The vocals seem to work better in the more danceable tracks, as they hint of lame 70s progressive rock during the more jam-oriented tracks. The first few minutes of the closing track, "August" are completely wasted with unnecessary vocals, and come off as boring. My fear is that it may deter some listeners from reaching the dark, dazzling jams that enter the picture about seven minutes through. The slow, melodic, jam builds slowly before erupting into a magnificent finale. And when this track is finally exhausted after 15 minutes, all I could say was, "Damn, they finally nailed it."

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Living Daylights- 500 Pound Cat
by: Dave Rioux

In listening to a number of JamBands that are characterized as improvisational groups that rely on jazz roots, sometimes it's difficult to see where the two separate, or even if there is any separation at all. Living Daylight's new CD 500 Pound Cat typifies one such instance. From the get go, I knew I was listening to a tight jazz ensemble, not an explorative garage band. Another clue might have been reading the jewel case and seeing that they were not only a 3-piece band, but that they only incorporated sax, bass and drums!

From the opening Flamenco-style bass line of "Spaghetti Western" to it's haunting melody, I felt like I was listening to a bunch of Berkeley grads, not a group of amateurs. Staying more within the lines of traditional jazz is by no means a hindrance. In fact, I'm all for it. Staccato changes and random dissonance are what originally attracted me to this style of music.

The cut "Trauma and Discourse" is a great example of this. Jessica Lurie's saxophone and Arne Livingston's electric bass playing duel back and forth over what seems to be a bare/essential drum kit played to perfection by Dale Fanning.

In many instances on this CD Jessica performs exceptional acrobatics on the sax. From key-popping accents to strong-winded bleating, she kept me constantly interested, nostalgic about the first time I heard James Carter's similar style. At one point I caught my 3 1/2 year old daughter trying to scat-sing along with some the sounds she heard coming out of the speakers. I trust her impression as she is a discriminating judge of music, whose tastes lie mainly in jazz, blues and The Muppets.

"Code Undo" with it's Jaco-style bass harmonics and slow loping blues shuffle has some wonderful grounding properties, while showing off some of Arne's diversity. The same can be said for the slap-bass line during "Falling Down Laughing."

A variety of styles are sampled in 500 Pound Cat, from the chaotic breakdowns in "Mali Krumpiri" to the chase-like pace kept up during "Garlic Press," all of which left me disconnected and contented to enjoy the explorative feelings of "Without."

The disc inspired me to visit www.liquidcity.com as instructed on the jacket liner to learn more about the band, only to discover that I missed their New England area tour by mere days. This was a mistake I don't intend to allow again.