Sunday’s Justice Comes Alive virtual festival featured performances from 50+ musicians and important discussions about bringing collective change to racial equality on Sunday. Phil Lesh and The Terrapin Family Band, Galactic and Ivan Neville, The Nth Power, Eric Krasno, Umphrey’s McGee and Dumpstaphunk were just a few of the acts who performed during the day-long livestreamed special yesterday, from which proceeds benefited the PLUS1 For Black Lives Fund and organizations like Equal Justice Initiative, Impact Justice and The Bail Project, and other Black and Indigenous-led grassroots organizations combating racism.
Justice Comes Alive mixed interview and performance segments throughout its 12 hours on the air. James Casey of the Trey Anastasio Band co-hosted Justice Comes Alive along with Robert “Sput” Searight, Nikki Glaspie, Nigel Hall and SiriusXM’s Ari Fink. Galactic, Ivan Neville and Anjelika ‘Jelly’ Joseph opened the event with their recently released reworked version of “There’s Something Wrong With This Picture.”
Marco Benevento was up next and reunited with his trio for a three-song mini set of “Let It Slide,” “Atari” and “Send It On A Rocket.” Next, guitarist Brandon “Taz” Niederauer performed a solo rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Living For The City.” Nigel Hall then interviewed Patrice Rushen before Weedie Braimah offered percussion and Shaun Martin played “Yellow Jacket,” Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” and Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day.” Other highlights from the first third of JCA were Krasno’s rendition of “Stand By Me,” Ivan Neville’s medley of “Big Brother” and “Hey Hey All Together,” Robert Walter‘s “Luck,” Star Kitchen‘s covers of The Stylistics’ “People Make The World Go Round” and Bob Marley’s “Crisis” as well as Nigel’s chat with former Lettuce band mate Eric Krasno.
A discussion with members of HeadCount kicked off the second third of Justice Comes Alive. Alvin Ford Jr. led his band through the fitting “Justice” next ahead of Antibalas frontman Amayo’s performance of “Fight Am Finish” and the whole band providing a “Say Their Names” soundtrack as images of African-Americans involved in police killings were displayed. Then, G. Love offered takes on “Peace Love & Happiness” and “The Juice.” Other standout moments from the middle of JCA were Southern Avenue‘s three-song set, Sput’s chat with Marcus Miller, Phil Lesh & The Family Band’s quarantine version of the Grateful Dead’s “New Speedway Boogie” and a short set by Nahko.
Umphrey’s McGee closed out Justice Comes Alive with a cover of Bob Marley’s “Trenchtown Rock” that came after the original “Glory.” The sextet’s performance was among the highlights of the event’s final five hours. Other standout musical moments included an all-star Everyone Orchestra lineup working through a number entitled “Family Legacy,” TAUK playing “Yasuke,” David Shaw of The Revivalists delivering an emotional version of “Stand Up” accompanied by footage of recent protests, Stanley Jordan presenting “Freedom To Be,” The Motet powering through “Whacha Gonna Bring,” Dumpstaphunk playing “Justice” with Trombone Shorty and covering Sly & The Family Stone’s “Stand” as well as performances from Lettuce, Turkuaz and supergroup Bandemic consisting of guitarist John Scofield, drummer Billy Martin, keyboardist (and birthday boy) John Medeski and bassist Jesse Murphy.
Also of note was the original Nth Power lineup reuniting for a powerful performance of “Only Love” featuring Bob Marley’s “War” within and the D’Vibes Trio teaming with Lettuce’s Adam Deitch and Adam Smirnoff for a segment that included a cover of Billy Preston’s “That’s The Way God Planned It.” The Nth Power was well represented on the livestream as drummer Nikki Glaspie hosted a number of conversations with such luminaries as George Porter Jr., Oteil Burbridge and Ivan Neville, while guitarist Nick Cassarino paired with Jennifer Hartswick and legendary jazz musician Christian McBride for “Numb.”
Justice Comes Alive, which was presented by Live For Live Music, can be seen in the video below:
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