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Here Come Phil
Lesh and Friends The future of Phil Lesh and Friends took a turn during a jam session last fall that Lesh won't soon forget. Since Lesh started Phil Lesh and Friends in 1998, each season has brought new characters to the stage, and that's exactly what Lesh intended for his tours. But that jam with guitarists Jimmy Herring and Warren Haynes, drummer John Molo and keyboardist Rob Barraco changed his mind "It all came together last fall, and the first rehearsal was just extraordinary," Lesh said. "We were kind of goofing off, and I started playing the bass line to 'Sunshine of Your Love' - the old Cream tune. Warren had never sung it before, but he jumped in, and everybody else jumped in and bam! We had a new song." Lesh said he originally wanted to keep the faces on his stage changing so the music never got stale and the band would be forced to continually improvise. But he said the quartet he will share the stage with at his April 16 concert at Boutwell Auditorium is inherently fresh and chemically perfect. "It goes beyond chemistry," he said. "This is alchemy; it's turning lead into gold. It's comparable in my mind to the peak of the Grateful Dead. "The great mind that we can create on stage is the floor for the spirit to descend upon and create music that has a life of its own." Lesh is best known as the bassist for the Grateful Dead. The band's 30 years of tours ended in 1995 after vocalist and lead guitarist Jerry Garcia died. But Lesh said long before he discovered the great possibilities of rock'n' roll, he was a lover of jazz and a believer in improvisation. His first instrument was the violin, and he played trumpet semi-professionally in the Bay Area during his college days. In 1962, he studied composition under Luciano Berio, a well-respected Italian composer known for his aleatoric writing - 20th-century music that contains indeterminate elements such as the vague instruction "play for 3 minutes." Those who attend the April 16 concert can expect to see Lesh's background in indeterminate music coming through. He said most of the tunes they perform begin with "little tiny ideas that pop up and create something." In some cities, he said, the concert will begin with poetry readings as an opening ceremony, and each set will tell a story that fits in the tour's theme, "Here Come Sunshine." Lesh is also working on three short orchestral works and wants to write an opera. "I have hopes for my compositions and some record companies have expressed interest in what I might do," he said. For now, however, his main focus lies in keeping his current lineup for Phil and Friends. Haynes still plays with his own band, Gov't Mule, but Lesh said he hopes the guitarist will be willing to continue doing double duty after the spring tour ends. "I'm going to do what I can to hold on to these guys," he said. Phil's friends Phil Lesh hopes to make the current Phil and Friends lineup permanent. The band members: Jimmy Herring was a member of Col. Bruce Hampton's Aquarium Rescue Unit and Jazz is Dead. He also replaced guitarist Dickey Betts in The Allman Brothers Band during the summer 2000 tour. Warren Haynes played with the Allman Brothers Band for 10 years before becoming the frontman for Gov't Mule. He is also a songwriter and has penned songs for artists such as Garth Brooks and George Jones. John Molo was a founding member of Bruce Hornsby and the Range as well as the post-Grateful Dead aggregation, The Other Ones. Rob Barraco was a member of the jam band Zen Tricksters, and his adeptness on keyboard has made him a sought-after artist on the jam band scene. What — Phil Lesh and Friends When — 8 p.m. April 16 Where — Boutwell Auditorium Tickets — $30 through Ticketmaster
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