Jerry Garcia & David Grisman: So What (Record Store Day 2023 Black Friday)

I “discovered” David Grisman on his classic jazz bluegrass fusion (which he calls Dawg music) album: Hot Dawg (1979). I “discovered” Jerry Garcia via the Jerry Garcia Band on their 1991 eponymous live album.

This album was originally released as a CD on Grisman’s Acoustic Disc label in August 1998. I have had that CD version for about twenty years – “discovering” the album about five years after it was released. I have been a fan of mandolinist David Grisman and the inspiration for this album, Miles Davis, since the late ‘70s. I became a Jerry Garcia fan in the 90s. I was never much of a Grateful Dead fan, but man am I a fan of all of Jerry’s outside of The Dead music adventures. It is so diverse: country, bluegrass, jazz, soul, rock, multiple configurations, etc.

I am a longtime fan of this album. When I saw that a vinyl edition (2400 copies were pressed) for Record Store Day 2023 Black Friday (RSD) it was immediately prioritized as my number one for RSD.

I got up at 5:30 on Black Friday to increase my odds of acquiring my RSD list from Stinkweeds, my go-to Phoenix indie record store. I was disappointed that Stinkweeds did not even get any – this occasionally happens on RSD due to production or shipping delays. Store owner Kimber Lanning said they would take my name and number and they would text me if it came in. I was hopeful it would show up. Sure enough, I got a text five days later that they had a copy with my name on it. Sadly, predators on Discogs are selling this for double the price.

David Grisman’s contribution to society was creating a jazz/bluegrass/folk fusion that he calls “Dawg music.” He also is a buddy of Jerry Garcia and they have collaborated on several musical projects. On this project David and Jerry are joined by sidemen from David’s regular band (bassist Jim Kerwin, Joe Craven on percussion, and, on two numbers, flutist Matt Eakle), the co-leaders perform three versions of Miles Davis’ “So What,” two of apiece of Milt Jackson’s “Bag’s Groove” and Davis’ “Milestones,” and one of Grisman’s “16/16.”

So What is a rare opportunity to hear Jerry playing jazz (Dawg style) music, a genre which he loved but rarely performed. I am very familiar with the source material as Miles Davis’ Kind Of Blue (and most of his catalog) is an important album to me.

Although songs are repeated across the two discs, the improvisation is significant enough to not be bored by the repetition, but enlightened by David and Jerry’s creativity. This kind of music is gentle enough to play as background music and sophisticated enough to listen with full attention. Although Jerry is the big name here, David is the star of this release. He is to mandolin what Béla Fleck is to banjo. This is a great introduction to Dawg music and to yet another side of Jerry Garcia.

This is a “RSD First” which means the title is found first at indie record stores as part of a Record Store Day but may be released to other retailers or websites at some point in the future. So I would not pay current Discogs prices as this should eventually be available via vinyl at reasonable retail prices.