Grateful Dead Hour #1011

Week of February 4, 2008

Part 1 25:38
Donna Jean and the Tricksters 9/19/07 KPFA Performance Studio
FAREWELL JACK
ME AND KETTLE JOE
WEIGHT OF THE WORLD

Part 2 31:17
Donna Jean and the Tricksters
NO BETTER WAY
ALL I GOTTA SAY
SHELTER
HE SAID, SHE SAID

Sabertooth, Dr Midnight
CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER

From the Donna Jean and the Tricksters web site:

Donna Jean Godchaux MacKay was born to sing, and over the course of time she’s done so with people like Elvis Presley, Percy Sledge, Boz Scaggs, and Jerry Garcia. Now she has a new band that she’s quite certain is on a creative par with anything she’s ever done. “This band is a perfect fit for me as a singer/songwriter,” she said recently, “and I hope to be doing this for a long time to come. We’re having so much fun with this music!” The Grateful Dead alumna has joined up with six members of the next musical generation – Mookie Siegel (David Nelson Band; formerly Phil & Friends, RatDog), Wendy Lanter (Hope in Time), and Jeff Mattson, Tom Circosta, Klyph Black and Dave Diamond (Zen Tricksters) to form Donna Jean and the Tricksters. Look out! Things have come full circle and anything’s possible. Oh, sure, they’re gonna jam. But the band has seven vocalists and an incredible array of songwriting talent, and DJ&tT is going to make waves in ways you’d never anticipate.

I have been a fan and friend and occasional collaborator with the Zen Tricksters for ten years, and so of course I’m thrilled to hear what this new band can do. All seven of them sing and write, and they put on a hell of a show. You can hear the entire 9/19/07 live broadcast on the KPFA archive.

I’ll be featuring the new DJ&T CD on the KPFA marathon February 9, and you can get their new CD as a thank-you gift for a contribution to the station on that day. Or you can get it right now in a music store near you, or online from Dig Music.

Pat Mallinger is the Deadhead in Sabertooth. They’ve recorded “Cassidy” and “China Doll” on previous records, and now here’s a live performance of “China Cat Sunflower” on their new CD. From the Delmark Records web site:

Saxophonists Cameron Pfiffner and Pat Mallinger are exciting jazz players who evoke the spirit of historic saxophone tandems like Johnny Griffin & Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis or Sonny Stitt & Gene Ammons. They formed Sabertooth in 1990 and have been doing the Green Mill Saturday night After Hours Jazz Party for fifteen years. Pete Benson’s been Sabertooth’s organist for five years and the group is anchored by drummer Ted Sirota. Blues to bop, Caribbean to cool, strange (Dr. Midnight) to odd (couple) – put this CD on and join the party!

Leave a Comment