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Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia - The Record Plant, Sausalito, California, July 8, 1973

I've been catching up with the latest season of the Good Ol' Grateful Deadcast, which hones in on the annus mirabilis of 1973. In 1973, Jerry Garcia was, arguably, reaching his peak, not only musically, but personally as well. Ensconced comfortably in Stinson Beach, he was eagerly exploring new avenues, getting jazzier and funkier with Merl Saunders and getting deeply rootsy with Old & In The Way. Oh yeah, he was also playing numerous outrageously amazing shows with the Grateful Dead (in bigger and bigger venues). Life was good for Garcia — at least that's the overwhelming impression you get from the remembrances collected in this great Deadcast episode.

Not that I ever need any excuse, but listening to the ep sent me back to those Saunders / Garcia / Kahn/ Vitt tapes, including this deliciously stoney summer evening in Sausalito, broadcast on KSAN-FM a half-century ago. The quartet sounds supremely laid-back but still exploratory, finding the confluence between rich R&B and "My Funny Valentine," digging into the Meters-esque groove of "Finders Keepers" and easing their way through a sweet/sad "Positively 4th Street." So very nice!

Of course, we should also check out some Old & In The Way from this period, too (Peter Rowan's Deadcast contributions are especially illuminating) ... so here's the group also at the Record Plant in March of '73, also broadcast on KSAN-FM. Down where the river bends!

#jerry garcia #merl saunders #old and in the way #peter rowan #the grateful dead

Source: d.norsen

#jerry garcia #merl saunders

#Jerry Garcia #Merl Saunders

Expressway (To Your Heart) - Merl Saunders (Fire Up, 1973)

#Soul #Soul Music #Soul Music Songs #Music #Music Songs #1973 #Soul Jazz #Organ #Fantasy #Merl Saunders #Fire Up #Expressway (To Your Heart)

#jerrygarcia #jerry garcia #merl saunders

Drummer Bill Vitt Succumbs to Cancer

Bill Vitt, the last surviving member of the quartet that performed on Merl Saunders and Jerry Garcia’s famed series of Keystone live albums, has died, the drummer’s sister said.

Vitt, whose age was unavailable, died of “assisted euthanasia” July 17 after being diagnosed with stage-IV lung cancer, Laurie Vitt wrote on Facebook.

“Bill had a lot of music left in him that we will never hear, but he did manage to finish several jazz tunes that should be released soon,” she said.

In addition to playing with Saunders, Garcia and bassist John Kahn during the informal 1971-’74 jam sessions that birthed the Keystone LPs, Vitt also worked with Garcia and Howard Wales on 1971’s Hooteroll?, was a member of Sons of Champlin and drummed for Tom Fogerty, Brewer & Shipley and others.

Garcia’s survivors called Vitt a “legendary” drummer, while Saunders’ heirs described him as “a great musician and friend.”

“Bill drove the band with his style of playing that propelled the music to a special space,” said a post on Saunders’ Facebook page.

7/19/19