On April 7 at The Capitol Theatre, Joe Russo will bring together an all-star cast of friends and musicians to revisit an overlooked page of the Grateful Dead history books, as the drummer will play Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales’ 1971 album, Hooteroll?, along with other songs that point to the jazzy improv album and the great artists that came before it. Russo’s band will consist of members of his former Colorado group Fat Mama, along with some of the Antibalas horns and Darkside’s Dave Harrington (tickets will go on sale this Friday).
The drummer took some time to speak on his random rediscovery of Hooteroll? and why this group of musicians will do it justice, how his time with Fat Mama opened his eyes to a much deeper and freer world of music and drumming, why he doesn’t actually listen to much Grateful Dead and how that Brooklyn Bowl John Mayer Almost Dead collaboration went from friendly conversation to fantastic reality.
When did you discover Hooteroll? and what led you to decide to revisit this album at this time?
I think I first came across that album in maybe 2010. I found it in on vinyl in a record store somewhere on Furthur tour and was really shocked by the sound. This music sounded like the music I normally played! I was still so new to the Grateful Dead world and was deeply in the midst of wrapping my head around all of that material, so it was a really interesting moment to learn more about how truly deep the Garcia well went.
I had listened to it a couple of times, then kind of forgot about it a bit until a few months ago when I was driving around and “Morning in Marin” came on my shuffle. I took me a minute to try and figure out what the hell it was. When I looked at my phone and saw it was Hooteroll?, it all just clicked. I’ve recently been getting back to more improv based, instrumental music for my local shows—you could say getting back to my roots. And it struck me that this album, in particular, holds a pretty cool link and reflection on my personal career story. A guy who came up playing instrumental, improvised music then gaining most of my notoriety while performing the Grateful Dead song book with Furthur, Phil, and now JRAD. It just really hit me as a cool idea to celebrate that bridge and I decided to put a show together to explore those links.
For this show, you are performing with some members of your old band Fat Mama. Can you talk a bit about your decision to work with them on this project and also, for some reasons who are not aware, talk a bit about how you came to meet the members of Fat Mama and settle in Colorado?
I had moved out to Boulder in early ’96 to “go to school.” That concept was quickly dashed after I learned a band called Fat Mama was looking for a drummer. Being new in town, and looking past the terrible name, I met up with the band, jammed a bit and joined shortly after. In my New Jersey butt-rock naiveté, I soon realized Fat Mama was in reference to a track on Herbie Hancock’s Fat Albert Rotunda album. These guys really opened a whole new world to me that I didn’t even know existed. John Zorn and ’70s electric Miles Davis records were mainstays. Horace Silver, Monk, crazy deep cut electric funk records, Keith Jarrett, Dexter Gordon. It was just amazing how hip and deep these guys were. I had a lot to learn.
They got me hooked on drummers like Al Foster, Jack DeJohnette, Tony Williams, Joey Baron, Kenny Wollesen—too many to even mention. It’s safe to say that the members of Fat Mama completely informed my musical career from that point forward. Before these guys, I was all Zeppelin and metal and whatever else I was listening to as a teenager back East. I learned about true improvisation with that band. I actually remember the exact moment I became free with music. We were playing in some terrible sports bar somewhere in the middle of some god-awful tour from hell we put ourselves on and we were playing “Directions II” by Miles Davis. I had never felt comfortable playing “freely,” I was so stuck on the grid that I even believe the term Groove Nazi had been lovingly uttered in passing by some band members. This night for some reason, something clicked. I found myself without care, dancing around the music in a way I had never done before. A complete loss of worry or fear in what I was playing. Complete bliss. I had really found something that night. I think that was the first step to sounding and playing like me. I will never forget that moment and I will always thank those guys for bringing that out in me.
As I was listening to Hooteroll? that day in the car, the band just fell into place in my mind almost as immediately as the concept for the concert did. Jonathan Goldberger (guitar), Erik Deutsch (keys) and Kevin Kendrick (vibraphone and percussion) are three members of the Fat Mama group, while being perfectly complemented by Dave Harrington (bass), Stuart Bogie (reeds/flute) and Jordan McLean (trumpet). I couldn’t imagine playing this music without these Mama guys, and I’m so excited to collaborate with this group as a whole.
Along with the album, the show is also billed as “Celebrating the Music of Jerry Garcia, Howard Wales and Others.” What other plans besides Hooteroll? do you have set for the performance?
Well, the original plan was to only do the complete Hooteroll? record, but the more I thought about it, I realized it was the perfect opportunity to explore a bit of other music within the genre as well. I think we’re going to pepper some other things into the night from people like Gary Burton, Tony Williams, probably some Miles. Still thinking about the perfect additions to the night. Also, you can’t have a vibraphone wizard like Kevin Kendrick onstage and not play some Gary Burton! Some of the Howard Wales organ tones on Hooteroll? also remind me a bit of Larry Young’s tone in The Tony Williams Lifetime band, so I immediately started thinking it would be cool to maybe pull something from Emergency! for the set as well. Maybe a Keith Jarrett tune? The gig is still far enough away for us to dig in and build a really great show.
You have been regularly playing the Dead’s music since joining Furthur in 2009 but were new to their catalog at that time. Have you continued to work your way through their archives at Almost Dead plays more songs and, if so, what are some of the resources you use to discover some of their overlooked corners?
To be honest, not really. I learned somewhere around 200+ songs in my time with Furthur. I don’t think there’s much of a lack of information to pull from, but I do think there’s unlimited potential to reimagine what that information is. I don’t listen to the Grateful Dead often. When I do, it’s usually records, because I LOVE their records.
When I was learning all of this for Furthur, I was so deep in the weeds that I couldn’t have listened to this music casually if I wanted to. It was a deep and grueling learning process, one that I’m very proud of, looking back. After learning all of these tunes, I went out and played them for five years with Furthur. Tell you what I wasn’t listening to in my downtime—hell, I barely even listened to music with guitars for the first two years in that band. I think at this point, it’s not really about finding any unturned stones in the music that’s already been created, but in the improvising itself. I love writing set lists for [Almost Dead]. I think there’s a creative arc there that can be explored like crazy. Working up different song combinations, etc. Adding songs to the show that have nothing to do with the Dead’s catalog (e.g. “Writing A Novel,” “Hippy Dream,” “Vampire Blues,” “Fortune Teller,” etc.) has benefit too, and I think we will be continuing that trend going forward. It’s fun to find songs that can fit in this universe that can make sense. It keeps everyone’s ears fresh.
For this Hooteroll? show, you are also incorporating Dave Harrington, with whom you have played as of late, and the Antibalas horns. Can you talk about how you came in contact with those musicians and what made them a good fit for Hooteroll? ?
Well, I’ve known Bogie and Jordan now for quite some time. Stuart a little longer maybe. Those guys make up my favorite horn section! We spent a lot of time working together on The Complete Last Waltz concert we do most years (this year it’s 11/23/16 at The Cap) and have since had that revolving section (including Raymond Mason, John Altieri, Martín Perna, Eric Biono and Matt Bauder) perform with JRAD a few times. They always bring incredible energy and deep musicality every single time!
As far as Dave goes, he and I first played together when Cass McCombs and I sat in with Alex Bleeker and The Freaks at Brooklyn Bowl while they were doing some Dead stuff. He and I didn’t get to hang much that night, but I soon ended up on a Nicole Atkins recording session with Metzger, Binky Griptite and Harrington on bass. This guy is such an incredible musician. He’s a monster guitarist and sonic tone-smith as most people who know him know, but this guy is a crazy good bass player. People went out for a smoke break and he and I proceeded to just start playing this crazy, free improvisation out of nowhere. It was a pseudo-soul type session, so it wasn’t the obvious influence to ignite our little free walk, which made it extra fun. I remember thinking, “Jesus, this guy rules.” He later joined me for a duo improv show during my residency at Threes Brewing in Gowanus last year under my Icy Bridge moniker. It was beautiful. Not a word said between us about anything music. We just played for 90 mins or so and it was effortless. He’s just one of those guys, much like Goldberger and Deutsch, et al. I’m really excited to bring these guys together. I have a feeling there will be some beautiful chemistry.
Is this a completely one-off performance, or are there ideas in the works for more of these sorts of shows featuring an unearthing of additional overlooked Garcia or Dead works?
I’m hoping this won’t be the last time this group of humans play together, but I’m not looking to unearth anything or delve any deeper into the shadowlands of the Grateful Dead. This record just stuck out as something cool to explore which led to the excitement of playing some other material too. I think I’m kind of selfishly booking this show for me. There’s something very reflective about it, like I said before. It’s a really cool bridge of where I started my professional career, where it’s taken me and how seemly I’m starting to return.
Last week, Almost Dead welcomed to unique guests: John Mayer and your longtime collaborator Chris Harford. How did those sit-ins come about and what were your thoughts on them?
Well with John, he was just chilling backstage at Brooklyn Bowl when we got up after our acoustic set. He was super nice and we just starting chatting and making each other laugh a bunch. That’s always a good sign. After hanging for a good 20 minutes, I asked if he’s like to sit in on anything. We looked over the setlist and instead of finding a tune he knew or wanted to play on, I just said, “Screw it! If we’re gonna do this, let’s do it. Let’s have you up on the whole set.” It was a fun moment. A very quick bonding session into playing. I was impressed that he was excited to get up there and not worry too much about songs he might not know well or has maybe never even heard before. Those are the people I like to play music with.
Chris Harford is one of the most amazing and influential musicians I’ve been lucky enough to have in my life. Dave [Dreiwitz] and Scott [Metzger] have been playing with him forever, and I was lucky enough to be brought into The Band Of Changes fold a good 10 plus years ago. Chris is just one of those people whose energy and passion for what he’s doing is contagious. I have rarely had more fun on stage than when I’m playing with The Band Of Changes. It’s raw, pensive, playful, painful, spirited and violent all wrapped up in one thing. I often credit playing with Chris as being a necessary part of my musical puzzle that led me to be able to do the Furthur gig. Chris thought me how to play with a singer—how to shut the hell up behind the song when I should shut the hell up—and to play with a feel I had little comfort in before my tenure with The BOC. Chris and I along, with Scott and Dave and an incredible cast of amazing musicians, had just recently completed Chris’ new record, Horn Of Plenty, and I was listening to it on a long drive and was overwhelmed with emotion while hearing Chris deliver his full heart on every song. We did a pretty great cover of Neil Young’s “Hippie Dream” on that record, and I had this vision of Chris joining us on stage with JRAD to deliver a rendition to close out the run. People need to know Chris if they don’t. He’s a true force.
