The commemorate the 10th Anniversary of Jerry Garcia’s passing, two gems
outside of the immediate Grateful Dead circle have been dusted off and pristinely
polished for public consumption: The Live At Shoreline DVD
from the Jerry Garcia Band and the two-CD The Jerry Garcia Collection,
Vol. 1: Legion of Mary set featuring superb performances from Garcia’s
short-lived, funkified band from the mid-70s. Although a steady stream of Garcia
goodies in the form of the Pure Jerry Series is available through the
official Jerry Garcia Web site, Rhino
has taken over the distribution and promotion of these two releases in a staunch
and gallant effort to quench fans’ voracious appetite for all things dead.
Back in the 70s, the Grateful Dead and his own, self-named band apparently wasn’t
enough to occupy Jerry Garcia’s plate. In addition to numerous sessions
with everyone from Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young to New Riders Of The Purple
Sage, Garcia played bluegrass with Old And In The Way and engaged in various
one-off collaborations. One of his more adventurous forays was Legion
Of Mary, a slapdash soiree encompassing funk, jazz, country and everything
in between that included keyboardist Merle Saunders, reedman Martin Fierro,
drummer Ron Tutt, and bassist John Kahn.
Complete with requisite feedback, the self-titled two-CD set marks the first
proper live release by the Legion of Mary. Taken from seven
shows in San Francisco, Berkeley, and Portland, the 14 songs cover a wide range
of styles and dalliances — From Dylan to Motown to Elvis. We can only
hope they’ll dig up something on Reconstruction, another Garcia/ Saunders
co-opt that bore some truly exquisite musical moments.
~ Shawn Perry
