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$110 Includes dinner and concert (Beverages can be purchased separately). Guitarist Stanley Jordan has formed a new band called Stanley Plays The Dead. Stanley describes it as "Cosmic vibal variations on the music of the Grateful Dead. We're adding more jazz elements, while keeping the original musical feel and the trippy vibe."
Over the last 10 years or so, Stanley has been a frequent guest with Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh. Stanley says, "Since I've been playing with Phil a lot of his fans have started coming to my shows. I wanted to reward them with something that I knew they would like. I also wanted to bring new people in to share in the spirit of openness and belongingness that this music brings about."
Here are the band members, all of whom sing as well as play instruments:
STANLEY JORDAN was raised in Palo Alto, California-the very city in which the Grateful Dead was formed. In this band he uses his signature tapping style while still paying homage to Jerry Garcia's lilting melodies.
Drummer KENWOOD DENNARD is unique among drummers, and he's influenced multiple generations of musicians of all instruments.
Bassist GREG KOERNER brings a lifetime of experience playing Grateful Dead music.
JESSE HIATT is the band's keyboardist and second guitarist. He brings the blues, African, Brazilian, funk and R&B.
Drummer KENWOOD DENNARD is a Grammy award-winning and multi-platinum recording artist. He's unique among drummers, and he's influenced multiple generations of musicians of all instruments. He's played with jazz greats such as Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and Dizzy Gillespie. He pioneered the jazz fusion improvisational movement in the 70's with Pat Martino (Joyous Lake) and Brand X (Livestock), and later with Jaco Pastorius' Word of Mouth Band and PDB (Pastorius, Dennard and Bullock). He's also been a longtime collaborator with Marcus Miller, Stanley Jordan and Vernon Reid. He's performed with many other popular artists, including The Allman Brothers Band, Phish, The String Cheese Incident, Derek Trucks, Moe., Sting, Taj Mahal, Maceo Parker, Warren Haynes, Esperanza Spaulding, and John Scofield. He recently retired as a tenured professor at Berklee College of Music, allowing him to return to full-time composing, recording and performing.
Bassist GREG KOERNER brings a lifetime of experience playing Grateful Dead music. He played with Crimson Rose, one of the first Dead cover bands in New York, and he toured extensively with Vince Welnick, the Dead's last keyboardist. He's played with Dark Star Orchestra, Unlimited Devotion and countless other Dead tribute bands. He's also toured with Charles Neville, Henry Butler and The Band's Garth Hudson. Greg has recorded five albums of original music and he's toured extensively with his own project Gent Treadly and his trio The Joint Chiefs.
JESSE HIATT is the band's keyboardist and second guitarist. He, like Stanley, was raised in the Bay Area, where he got his start on the blues circuit and he recorded his album Choose Your Road. He then spent 10 years in New Orleans, touring with Mississippi blues legend Cedric Burnside, and producing Burnside's album The Way I Am. In addition to his longtime experience playing Grateful Dead music, he brings influences of West-African, Brazilian, and classic New Orleans funk and R&B.
"Unbroken Chain," captured the imagination of younger musicians such as Jordan, whose musical minds and hearts were incubating in a vast unfolding world of musical possibilities.
Jerry Garcia held a special place in young Stanley's world. "Don't get me wrong," Jordan says. “I was a huge Hendrix fan, but Jerry's clean melodic style was a nice alternative to Jimi's frequent use of distortion. And I've often felt that Garcia was influenced by Les Paul, another one of my favorites.
"When I was a kid I didn't get to attend any of the Dead's performances but I would hear about them on a regular basis. I finally did see the band twice in '94, and I attended all the Fare Thee Well performances in Chicago in 2015."
One thing that made the Grateful Dead's concerts so special was that their extended improvisations and huge songbook made each show unique, and it gave concertgoers a reason to come back again and again. This made each event a full-on happening and not just a concert. Listeners began following the band around on tour, leading to the growth of a huge nomadic tribe that has become an enduring segment of American society. Although Stanley didn't follow the band he nonetheless felt connected to the tribe. For this reason, when he started guesting with Phil Lesh and Friends he felt right at home.
That feeling was a big motivation to launch this project. Stanley explains, "Since I've been playing with Phil a lot of his fans have started coming to my shows. I wanted to reward them with something that I knew they would like. I also wanted to bring new people in to share in the spirit of openness and belongingness that this music brings about."
MEET THE BAND
Stanley Plays The Dead is not just a concept-it's a real band that truly works as a unit, with each member contributing something unique and important. All the members sing as well as play instruments.
STANLEY JORDAN was born in Chicago in 1959 and raised in Palo Alto, California-the very city in which the Grateful Dead was formed. He earned a bachelor's degree in music from Princeton in 1981. Gigs were scarce in the early days, but after a few lean years working as a New York street musician Jordan was signed to Blue Note Records in 1984. His Magic Touch album was an instant classic, and it stayed at #1 on Billboard's jazz chart for 51 weeks. He is widely regarded as the #1 exponent of the touch, or tapping technique on guitar. To date Jordan has been nominated for four Grammys, and has performed in 70 countries. He made a cameo appearance in the movie Blind Date with Bruce Willis and Kim Basinger, and numerous TV appearances through the years, including Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, David Letterman and Jimmy Fallon. He has collaborated on the stage or in the studio with a diverse array of artists including Phil Lesh, Miles Davis, Kenny Rogers, Herbie Hancock, Dionne Warwick, Dave Matthews, Sharon Isbin, and Carmen McRae.
Gratuity not included
Tickets are non-refundable
