Stanley Plays The Dead

Stanley Plays the Dead

$35/General admission

Guitarist Stanley Jordan has formed a new band called Stanley Plays The Dead. Jordan has always loved the Grateful Dead's music and Jerry Garcia's playing in particular, and this 4-piece unit was founded to share that love with the fans.

"Stanley Jordan playing the Grateful Dead—wait, what?" Actually, while this may seem surprising to some, anyone who really knows Stanley well won't be fazed in the least. Stanley has always held a diverse array of influences including classical, rock, World music and Americana. The Grateful Dead fits in there perfectly.

Stanley says, "The Dead's repertoire is an important part of the Great American Songbook. Over time people are realizing this more and more." He notes the growing number of bands doing Grateful Dead tributes and taking the music in new directions; Stanley Plays The Dead is part of that trend. "One mark of a good song is that it can be reinterpreted in many ways and it still holds up. These songs definitely fit that description."

Jordan puts a unique spin on things. He describes it as "Cosmic vible variations on the music of the Grateful Dead." "We're expanding the harmonic structure and adding more jazz elements, while preserving the original feel and flavor of the music. And most importantly, we're keeping the trippy vibe—maybe even deepening it."

Over the last 10 years or so Stanley has become a frequent guest with Phil Lesh and Friends. Through these guest appearances Stanley has become a part of that legacy. "There's something to be said for carrying the energy by direct transmission," Stanley says. He recalls Phil Lesh telling him, "If you want to understand the Grateful Dead's music just think Dixieland. Each instrument is doing something completely different but it all fits together."

Stanley's connection to these songs runs deep—he was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 60s and early 70s, when the Dead were a local and national treasure. He finally saw the band twice in '94 and attended all the Fare Thee Well performances in Chicago in 2015.

That feeling of connection and community helped motivate this project. "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 JORDAN: Born in Chicago in 1959 and raised in Palo Alto, California. He earned a bachelor's degree in music from Princeton in 1981. After working as a New York street musician, Jordan was signed to Blue Note Records in 1984; his Magic Touch album stayed at #1 on Billboard's jazz chart for 51 weeks. He is widely regarded as the foremost exponent of the touch, or tapping, technique on guitar. Jordan has been nominated for four Grammys, has performed in 70 countries, made a cameo in the movie Blind Date, and appeared on TV shows including Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, David Letterman and Jimmy Fallon. He has collaborated with artists such as Phil Lesh, Miles Davis, Kenny Rogers, Herbie Hancock, Dionne Warwick, Dave Matthews, Sharon Isbin, and Carmen McRae.

• KENWOOD DENNARD: A Grammy award-winning and multi-platinum recording artist. He has played with Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Dizzy Gillespie and others, and pioneered jazz fusion improvisation in the 70s with Pat Martino and Brand X. He has worked with Jaco Pastorius' Word of Mouth Band, PDB, Marcus Miller, Vernon Reid, and artists including The Allman Brothers Band, Phish, The String Cheese Incident, Derek Trucks, Moe., Sting, Taj Mahal, Maceo Parker, Warren Haynes, Esperanza Spalding, and John Scofield. He recently retired as a tenured professor at Berklee College of Music to return to full-time composing, recording and performing.

• GREG KOERNER: Brings a lifetime of experience playing Grateful Dead music. He played with Crimson Rose, toured extensively with Vince Welnick, and has played with Dark Star Orchestra, Unlimited Devotion and other Dead tribute bands. He has toured with Charles Neville, Henry Butler and The Band's Garth Hudson, recorded five albums of original music, and toured with his projects Gent Treadly and his trio The Joint Chiefs.

• JESSE HIATT: The band's keyboardist and second guitarist. Raised in the Bay Area, he got his start on the blues circuit and recorded the album Choose Your Road. He spent 10 years in New Orleans, touring with 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.