Dark Star: The Music of the Grateful Dead
Encyclopedia
Dark Star: The Music of the Grateful Dead is an album by the David Murray
Octet released on the Astor Place label. It was released in 1996 and contains Murray's versions of compositions by the Grateful Dead
. The Octet plays on the first six tracks, and the last is a Murray solo, accompanied only by Bob Weir
on acoustic guitar
.
awarded the album 3 stars stating "So overall this is a mixed bag, most highly recommended to listeners who have a high tolerance level and a strong sense of humor.".
David Murray (jazz musician)
David Murray is an American jazz musician. Murray plays mainly tenor saxophone and sometimes bass clarinet. He has recorded prolifically for many record labels since the mid-1970s.-Biography:...
Octet released on the Astor Place label. It was released in 1996 and contains Murray's versions of compositions by the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
. The Octet plays on the first six tracks, and the last is a Murray solo, accompanied only by Bob Weir
Bob Weir
Bob Weir is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead...
on acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
.
Reception
The Allmusic review by Scott YanowScott Yanow
Scott Yanow is an American jazz commentator, known for many contributions to the Allmusic website, for writing ten books on jazz and for reviewing jazz recordings for over 30 years.-Biography:...
awarded the album 3 stars stating "So overall this is a mixed bag, most highly recommended to listeners who have a high tolerance level and a strong sense of humor.".
Track listing
- "Shakedown Street" (GarciaJerry GarciaJerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
, HunterRobert Hunter (lyricist)Robert C. Hunter is an American lyricist, singer-songwriter, translator, and poet, best known for his association with Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.-Biography:He was born Robert Burns in San Luis Obispo, California...
) - 8:54 - "Samson and Delilah" (Traditional) - 11:12
- "Estimated Prophet" (BarlowJohn Perry BarlowJohn Perry Barlow is an American poet and essayist, a retired Wyoming cattle rancher, and a cyberlibertarian political activist who has been associated with both the Democratic and Republican parties. He is also a former lyricist for the Grateful Dead and a founding member of the Electronic...
, WeirBob WeirBob Weir is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead...
) - 5:55 - "Dark Star" (GarciaJerry GarciaJerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
, HunterRobert Hunter (lyricist)Robert C. Hunter is an American lyricist, singer-songwriter, translator, and poet, best known for his association with Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.-Biography:He was born Robert Burns in San Luis Obispo, California...
, KreutzmannBill KreutzmannBill Kreutzmann is an American drummer who played with the rock band the Grateful Dead for their entire thirty-year career...
, LeshPhil LeshPhillip Chapman Lesh is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career....
, McKernan, WeirBob WeirBob Weir is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead...
) - 16:15 - "China Doll" (Garcia, Hunter) - 5:17
- "One More Saturday Night" (Weir) - 8:29
- "Shoulda Had Been Me" (Cockburn, Nash, Weir) - 5:06
- Recorded on January 17–18, 1996 at Clinton Recording Studios, New York, NY
Personnel
- David MurrayDavid Murray (jazz musician)David Murray is an American jazz musician. Murray plays mainly tenor saxophone and sometimes bass clarinet. He has recorded prolifically for many record labels since the mid-1970s.-Biography:...
- tenor saxophone, bass clarinet - Hugh RaginHugh RaginHugh Ragin is an American jazz trumpeter.Ragin was raised in Houston and began on trumpet when he was in eighth grade. After playing in the Houston All-City High School Orchestra, which toured the UK, he took his bachelor's in music education at the University of Houston and his master's in trumpet...
- trumpet - James Zoller or Omar Kabir - trumpet
- Craig HarrisCraig S. Harris (trombonist)Craig S. Harris is a Jazz trombonist and composer who has been a major figure in the jazz avant-garde movement since his stint with Sun Ra in 1976. Subsequently, Harris has worked with such notable jazz artists as Abdullah Ibrahim, David Murray, Lester Bowie, Cecil Taylor, Sam Rivers, Muhal...
- trombone - James Spaulding - alto saxophone, flute
- Robert Irving IIIRobert Irving IIIRobert Irving III is an American pianist, composer, arranger and music educator.A native of Chicago, Irving was one of a group of young Chicago musicians that in the late '70s and early '80s formed the nucleus of Miles Davis' recording and touring bands...
- piano, hammond B-3 organ, synthesizer - Fred HopkinsFred HopkinsFred Hopkins was a Chicago double bassist who played a major role in the development of the avant-garde jazz movement. He was a member of the avant garde jazz trio Air and David Murray's Low Class Conspiracy; he frequently worked with the cellist Diedre Murray...
- bass - Renzell Meritt - drums
- Bob WeirBob WeirBob Weir is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead...
- guitar (Track 7)