Umphrey’s McGee Plays All-Improv Set & Honors Jerry In Madison

Many jam fans dream of having one of their favorite bands play a completely improvised set and for Umphrey’s McGee fans that wish came true last night, when the Chicago sextet with help from saxophonist Joshua Redman performed an all-improv second set at the Orpheum Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin. Thursday’s show also featured a moving tribute to keyboardist Joel Cummins‘ father Jerry Cummins who recently passed away.

Umphrey’s started the evening with a set that saw Redman join in on the set-closing sequence of “The Crooked One” > “Soul Food I” > “Similar Skin.” Both “The Crooked One” and “Conduit” played in the first set gave a taste of the improvisation that would come in the second set. The first all-improv set in UM history saw Redman join in the fun for portions of the performance. Outside of guitarist Brendan Bayliss spitting lyrics off the top of his head and throwing in some whistling, last night’s impressive second set was all about instrumental wizardry as the band – and at times Redman – explored many different themes and genres throughout. The sextet even toyed with weird time signatures at points. From the looks of these Tweets, it appears Umphrey’s pleased their fans in a big way:

https://twitter.com/curly_say/status/693045505954336768 https://twitter.com/ytsop86/status/692955550762582016 https://twitter.com/JesseMixMan/status/692949069635915777

The emotional high point of the evening came during a cover of Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” when Bayliss gave a speech honoring Jerry Cummins whom he said lived every moment of life to its fullest. Bayliss’s moving words left nary a dry eye in the house. Tonight, Umphrey’s concludes a two-night stand in Madison with help from Redman. A webcast of this evening’s show as well as 12 other upcoming performances are available via TourGigs.

Setlist (via All Things Umphreys)

Set One: Drink My Drank > Conduit, Attachments, Got Your Milk (Right Here) > Syncopated Strangers > Den > Syncopated Strangers, No Diablo, The Crooked One[1] > Soul Food I[1] > Similar Skin[1]

Set Two: Improvisation[2] > Improvisation[3], Improvisation

Encore: Hindsight, Don’t You (Forget About Me)

[1] with Joshua Redman on saxophones
[2] with Joshua Redman on saxophones; “Jimmy Stewart” with vocals
[3] “Jimmy Stewart” with vocals