Phil Lesh & Friends are back with a new installment of the Darkstarathon—the “Dark Star” jam that pauses but never ends—and this time, the jam centers around the famous “Beautiful Jam” played by the Grateful Dead at The Capitol Theatre on February 18th, 1971.
The episode opens with Lesh, his son Grahame, Stu Allen, Holly Bowling, and Alex Koford all sitting around a table discussing their plans for the session.
“I’ve been sort of investigating some of these old classic jams,” Phil says, “and there’s dozens of these jams that the fans have named. There’s the ‘Mind Left Body Jam’, there’s the ‘Spanish Jam’, that speaks for itself, and then there’s one called the ‘Beautiful Jam’ which I was listening to last night.”
The jams to which Lesh refers represent standout moments from the Grateful Dead’s live repertoire that have become recognized by fans as emblematic of the band’s improvisational prowess. The so-called “Beautiful Jam” occurred during an early East Coast run that has taken on legendary status, emerging at the end of set one out of “Dark Star”, appropriately enough.
Lesh goes on to say, “You can tell it’s ’71 because there’s no keyboard,” explaining that it was when late founding keyboardist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan was sick but before Keith Godchaux joined the band.
Lesh and his younger bandmates pick up the never-ending “Dark Star” where it left off and carry the jam on for 40+ more minutes, improvising based on the “Beautiful Jam” and making a detour through “West L.A. Fadeaway”. Watch the full episode below.
Lesh is gearing up to headline Terrapin Crossroads‘ Sunday Daydream festivals in July and August. Click here for more information, and visit the festival site for tickets.
The Clubhouse Session: Darkstarathon – Episode 5
The post Phil Lesh Revisits Famous Grateful Dead Jams Starting With 1971 “Beautiful Jam” In ‘Darkstarathon’ Ep. 5 [Watch] appeared first on L4LM.
