Grateful Deadication 2

サックス奏者のデイヴ・マクマレイによる2021年にリリースしたグレイトフル・デッドへのトリビュート・アルバム第2弾!

前作に続き、グレイトフル・デッドの曲を、ジャズ、ポップ、ロック、ソウル、レゲエ、R&B、ゴスペルなどを取り入れた硬質でソウルフルなデトロイト・サウンドで再創造。特別ゲストにJamey Johnson、Oteil Burbridge、Bob James、Don Wasを迎え、「Truckin'」、「Scarlet Begonias」、「China Cat Sunflower」などのデッドの人気曲を収録。

「私の最近のグレイトフル・デッドの世界への旅は、デトロイトのバンドと私がニューヨーク州北部のクラブハウス・スタジオに行ったときから始まった」とマクマレイは言う。「そこは美しい場所で、広大な土地に囲まれ、ヴィンテージの機材でいっぱいだった。マスター・エンジニアのエリオット・シャイナーを従え、4日間、夜通し、音楽を作ることだけを念頭に置いて、その雰囲気はちょうどいいものでした。その結果、ジェリー・ガルシア、ボブ・ウィアー、そしてグレイトフル・デッドの心の中に、ダークでスパースでエモーショナルに入り込むことができた...」
グレイトフル・デッドを初めて聴いたときのことを振り返り、さらにコメントは以下に続く。「長尺で奇数小節、複雑なコードを持つ音楽にすぐに夢中になった。曲には素晴らしいメロディーがあり、マイルス・デイヴィスのエレクトリック・ピリオドのような開放感があることに気づきました。キャッチーで、サイケデリックで、生々しく、誰もソロをしない、誰もがソロをするという、ウェザー・リポートと同じような考え方を持っている音楽でした。聴けば聴くほど、これらの曲はやがて私のジャズ表現の手段になると確信しました」。

Two years after Grateful Deadication, his initial journey into the music of the Grateful Dead, saxophonist Dave McMurray digs even deeper. Once again, hes supported by his killer Detroit band -- bassist Ibrahim Jones, guitarist Wayne Gerard, keyboardist Maurice ONeal, and drummer Jeff Canady -- with longtime friends and colleagues in percussionist Larry Fratangelo and keyboardist Luis Resto. The nine-song set also features a star-studded guest list. Opener "Playing in the Band" is performed by McMurrays quintet, along with Fratangelo and Resto. They get funky almost immediately thanks to Canadys syncopated breaks before a gritty tenor delivers the melody, and they play the hell out of the vamp and handle the middle eight with elegance. Framed by a lilting B-3, upright bass, and drum kit, McMurrays solo weds post-bop to contemporary soul jazz. The last two minutes offer skittering organs, punchy guitars, and drums, with McMurray soaring up top. The minimal blues guitar intro on "China Cat Sunflower" echoes Jerry Garcias original, with McMurray employing tenor and a lilting flute. While the GD opted for exploratory psychedelia, McMurray delivers danceable jazz-funk adorned with a killer tenor solo and exceptional modal piano from ONeal. "Bird Song" is introduced by a flute before sparse, rumbling kick drums, poetic guitar, and guest Don Was upright bass open the gate to jazz. The band is economical, as a two-chord piano vamp frames McMurrays tenor working the lyric vamp before paving the way for solos, including a beauty from Gerard. Criminally under-recorded country singer-songwriter Jamey Johnson sings highlight "To Lay Me Down." A short, rippling piano intro, reedy tenor, and sparse percussion that offers a subtle nod to Pharoah Sanders, before Larry Campbells fingerpicked acoustic guitar introduces the singer. Convicted and tender, he has never appeared with such vulnerability before. Was upright, Gerards electric, and guest Greg Leiszs pedal steel wrap the resonant singer as McMurray frames him in modal soloing. The funky read of "Truckin" quotes from Booker T. & the MGs "Green Onions" with Restos organ the star component. Bob James lends his piano to both "The Other One" and "If I Had the World to Give." The former offers a three-minute post-bop intro with striking interplay between pianist and saxophonist. When the jamming begins, rock and funk inform Jones smoking bass line, and Gerards careening guitar and ONeals keyboard stack. "Scarlet Begonias," sung by Oteil Burbridge, employs a danceable, NOLA second line groove. The band gels behind the singer, propelling the tune into winding jazz-funk with overdubbed tenor saxes adding color and texture, illustrated by Canadys taut breaks. Closer "Crazy Fingers" is delivered by the quintet with a languid, melodic intro before shape-shifting into rocksteady reggae and transforming again into a rock anthem with transcendent soloing from McMurray. Grateful Deadication 2 easily equals the quality of its predecessor. Taken together, they create one of the more spirited, musically adventurous jazz-funk portraits of the Grateful Deads music. ~ Thom Jurek