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David Grisman Quintet | 12.12.03 | Herbst Theater | San Francisco, CA
The David Grisman Quintet has long served as a musical Petrie dish for the rich depths of the Dawg's compositional tendencies. The band's performance this past Friday at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco was a textbook example of how David Grisman's acoustic musical vision has grown and evolved. Sound tech Larry Cumings' work was superb in the hallowed halls of the Herbst Theater, and the elegance and beauty of this band's music in this gorgeous setting made for a very special holiday event.
Jim Kerwin and Joe Craven |
The show began with what has become standard practice for the DGQ: bassist Jim Kerwin popped from the wings with some tasteful bowed bass which slowly evolved into a jazzy minor key fingerstyle pizzicato workout. Multi-instrumentalist Joe Craven emerged and performed a five minute rhythmic opus on a Styrofoam coffee cup and then shifted gears to tap out accents on the sides and top of Kerwin's upright. Enrique Corea followed with some graceful bass runs on the guitar with Matt Eakle adding plangent bass flute tones to the mix. Finally, David Grisman himself appeared from behind the curtain at center stage and the loping, loose cadence of this familiar melody segued smoothly into the standard bluegrass, up-tempo frolic of Grisman's signature song, "EMD."
David Grisman Quintet |
Following this predictable but enjoyable musical hors d'oeuvre the Dawg provided a retrospective of his more than 30 year recording history by jumping through some of the choicest cuts from his lengthy discography. "Janice," from the 1978 classic LP Hot Dawg, was performed flawlessly. The band kept us on our toes by performing a brand new composition, "Dan'l Boone," from Grisman's latest duet disc with Sam Bush , Hold on We're Strummin'. The title track from the 2002 disc Dawgnation came next, with Grisman introducing the tune as the one he performed on the Johnny Carson Show with Stephan Grapelli so many years ago.
David Grisman and Joe Craven |
As the night ensued, the band pulled out tracks from a wide swath of the long legacy of Dawg music, all of which were warmly received. The evening reached its peak towards the end of the second set with a lengthy and exploratory run through "Opus 38." This song first appeared on the 1993 Rounder CD but its origins drift all the way back to the Early Dawg CD with Del McCoury, which at that point in time was one of Grisman's earliest sophisticated musical efforts. With a good ten minutes' worth of melodic and rhythmic extrapolation, the song morphed into its traditional blueprint, "Shady Grove," and then into a highly improvised space jam laden with twin mandolins, bass flute overtones, and plenty of acoustic sound effects before finally returning to the main theme.
Grisman has a warm stage presence and throughout the evening he provided insight to nearly every song's origin. His introduction of each band member and their respective recordings comes with a showman's touch and midway through the performance he announced his latest CD featuring Jerry Garcia, entitled Been All Around this World, which is due out March 23 of next year.
DGQ with Sam Grisman |
The first encore, "Dawg's Bull," once again from the classic 1978 recording Hot Dawg, featured the bass work of Grisman's teenage son Sam, who showed clear evidence of his own growing musical maturity on upright bass. The evening's final song was the holiday send-off "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," replete with seasonal song references and plenty of hot jamming.
The David Grisman Quintet is a cherished cornerstone of the Bay Area music scene. The distinct, often-emulated-never-duplicated stylistic blend of Dawg Music serves as a unique entity in this digitally synthesized musical world. If you are lucky enough to have the DGQ perform near you, do yourself a favor and get tickets. Not only is the evolution kept fresh, it's always a musically and intellectually intriguing ride.
Set 1
EMD, Janice, Dan'l Boone, Dawgnation, Mugavero
Set II
14 Miles to Barstow, Dawg's Waltz, 16-16, Happy Bday Bill Monroe, Cha Cha Chihuahua,
Assanhado, Opus 38 > Shady Grove > Trippy Jam > Opus 38
Encore
Dawg's Bull (w/ Samson Grisman), Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Words and Images by: Ted Silverman
JamBase | California
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