Don Was and the Pan-Detroit Ensemble made their way to the Stuart Opera House in Nelsonville, OH on Saturday. The group’s set included music from the group’s debut, Groove In The Face Of Adversity. In addition, the collective performed the Grateful Dead’s 1975 studio effort Blues for Allah in its entirety. The group’s take on this material will appear via the live album Live Dispatch Vol. 1: Blues For Allah ’26, which Verve will release on November 20.

On Saturday night, the version of “Franklin’s Tower” from Blues for Allah was elevated through the appearance of Jorma Kaukonen. The guitarist played with the Grateful Dead in 1970 during the era when he was a member of both Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. Kaukonen later appeared with Phil Lesh & Friends as well as Bob Weir during the post-Dead era.

Looking back on the experience with Was and the Pan-Detroit Ensemble, Kaukonen noted:

I’ve been a fan of Don’s for a very long time. How could one not be? He brings so much art and humanity to the table and he brought that and more to Stuart’s Opera House last Saturday. The backstage hang was priceless, of course and the music he shared with us was timeless!

Blues For Allah is such a heavy work anyway, but Don and The Pan Detroit ensemble made it fly for all of us who were fortunate to be there for the show.

I mean, if the band wasn’t badass enough, Steffanie [Christi’an] who did the heavy lifting in the vocal department soared like an angel. She is a singer’s singer with enough soul for the planet! But wait… there’s more. Don asked me to sit in for a solo on Franklin’s Tower which was an honor indeed. Now I don’t take for granted that I would be asked to sit on with any of the great bands Fur Peace Productions present here at the Historic Opera House, but just in case, I threw my Gibson ES-345 and my Louis Electric Del Tone amp in the back of my car and it was not for nought.

I figured that since most of the band was sitting, I would join them. Yeah, this was a night to remember. What a show!

This evening, Don Was & The Pan-Detroit Ensemble will appear at the Center for the Arts of Homer in Homer, NY