Published on Aug 18, 1999
One of the most difficult things for any artist to do is to try
and breathe new life into material that isn’t that solid to begin
with. It’s hard enough for someone to redo a song that has become a
favorite, but at least choosing such a number stacks the cards in
their favor.
Item: I personally don’t care for
Wake Of The Flood, the 1973 release from the Grateful Dead.
(Okay, now I’ve opened the floodgates for flame mail.) While there
are some songs on the album I enjoy, there are others that just are
listless, and I look forward to listening to this album nearly as
much as I look forward to a root canal without novicaine.
So it’s interesting that Jazz Is Dead, a group of some of the
genre’s best (if not necessarily best-known) musicians, would
choose to redo the entire
Wake Of The Flood album in their own style. The end result,
Laughing Water, has its moments, but still is unable to
breathe a lot of life into the plodding material – but that’s not
due to lack of trying.
The group – guitarist Jimmy Herring, bassist Alphonso Johnson,
keyboardist T Lavitz and drummers Rod Morgenstein and Jeff Sipe
(who split the responsibilities behind the kit) – are more than
technically sound musicians. Each member does bring their own
unique spark of creativity and excitement to this project. Herring
is an incredible guitarist, and when Johnson is given the chance
for his solo on “Eyes Of The World” and “Two Sisters” (the tracks
flow together as one), he reminds me a lot of Phil Lesh in his
playing.
It would be too easy for me to say that Herring is no Jerry
Garcia; frankly, I don’t think Herring ever wanted to mimic the
sound of the late guitarist for the Dead, and wanted to give the
material his own unique signature. But more often than not, the
material on
Laughing Water calls for a more gentle sonic attack from the
guitar, and not a crisp, sharp rendition. I’ll give Herring credit
for trying; he stepped into some of the toughest shoes a guitarist
could ever dream of filling.
Jazz Is Dead is augmented by the addition of some wonderful
guest musicians. Violinist Vassar Clements (who played on the
original
Wake Of The Flood) reprises his role, and his work on
“Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleoo” makes it feel like it’s
1973 again. Donna Jean Godchaux, who was a member of the Dead at
the time of
Wake Of The Flood, briefly makes an appearance on two vocal
intros – the only time vocals are heard throughout this project.
Unfortunately, she is not used enough, and I would have liked to
have heard her sing more. Also making contributions to the project
are guitarists Steve Kimock and Derek Trucks.
I’ll give Jazz Is Dead credit: they do breathe a little life
into “Let Me Sing Your Blues Away,” one of my least favorite Dead
tracks ever. But they can’t make something great out of something
so mediocre in its basis. Likewise, “Stella Blue” just seems to
sag, thanks to its melancholic design, and no amount of musical
fireworks are going to light this one on fire.
Still, Jazz Is Dead holds their own on tracks like “Mississippi
Half-Step Uptown Toodleoo,” “Eyes Of The World” and “Row Jimmy”,
though it might take some long-time Deadheads to warm up to the new
(maybe I should say modified) arrangements of these songs.
I will admit a little disappointment in that Jazz Is Dead didn’t
try to make some of these performances a little more jazzy. “Eyes
Of The World” is a track that begged for the liberation of such a
style, and while its performance doesn’t disappoint in general,
there still is an aura of what could have been with this one.
Laughing Water will undoubtedly be a treasure trove if
you’re one of the fans of the Dead who lived
Wake Of The Flood. For others, it’s a strange choice of the
Dead’s catalog to cover, and while it’s musically sound, Jazz Is
Dead just aren’t magicians when it comes to making the
already-dragging material come to life.