Grateful Blues
A few years back, surrounded by the Las Vegas Dead scene, Bender Musical Director Jimmy Carpenter began thinking that maybe he had missed something important by not paying more attention to the iconic, original jam band. Bender founder and lifelong Deadhead, AJ Gross suggested he dig into the Jerry Garcia Band, which he thought would be more in line with Jimmy's musical vibe than the larger, jammier Dead. And thus, a new Deadhead was born. Sensing an opportunity to boraden his musical horizons, Jimmy put together a new project called Jimmy Does Jerry, and set about finding material that appealed to his musicality, his sax and voice. What he found was a huge amount of amazing music from both the JGB and the Grateful Dead. "I love the openness of the songs, the unusual chord changes, and the very different treatments of some classic blues songs. I love to jam, to improvise, and these songs are a new platform for me, with fans that dig the solos, the different twists and turns, the tension and release...all things that I love as well."Jimmy Does Jerry will feature an all star cast of local and Bender musicians, putting their bluesy spin on Dead classics, and maybe some more obscure songs, from the Jam band that started it all, and its musical and spiritual leader, Mr Jerry Garcia.
