Grateful Dawg

Starring: David Grisman, Ricky Jay Director: Gillian Grisman Original UK Premiere: 2002 Dvd Release: 9th June, 2003 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: Full Screen, PAL, Region 2 Encoding

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At its best, Grateful Dawg celebrates the easy friendship & truly inspired musicianship of Jerry Garcia & David Grisman through grainy home-movie footage with surprisingly crisp sound. Garcia was famous as the visionary behind the Grateful Dead, but his musical tastes were broad & he found a rewarding partnership with mandolinist Grisman, whose distinctive Dawg style fused jazz with bluegrass. As one of the films commentators says, Grisman made Garcia tighter as a musician, while Garcia made Grisman looser, & where they met they created an infectious, rootsy style they called Grateful Dawg. The films many highlights include instrumental versions of Dawg Waltz, Shady Grove & Arabia, as well as splendid footage from Garcia & Grismans days in Old & In The Way. The talking heads inserted ham-fistedly between & over performances become repetitious & finally downright annoying. But Garcia & Grisman fans will still enjoy the glimpse of a rare musical alchemy.

David Grisman is a noted bluegrass mandolin player. He started the Acoustic Disc record label in an effort to preserve & spread acoustic or instrumental music. David Grismans nickname is Dawg & Dawg Music is what he calls his mixture of bluegrass & Django Reinhardt - Stephane Grappelli -influenced jazz, as highlighted on his 1987 album Hot Dawg. Stephane Grappelli played on a couple of tracks on the Hot Dawg album & then the 1994 recording Stephane Grappelli & David Grisman Live. Denny Zeitlin, Tony Rice, Mark OConnor, Bela Fleck, Bob Brozman, Mike Auldridge, Mike Seeger, David Bromberg Martin Taylor, Del McCoury, Ralph Stanley, Earl Scruggs, John Hartford, Darol Anger, Sam Bush & the Kronos Quartet are just some of the musicians that have played with David Grisman or been part of the DGQ. The documentary Grateful Dawg chronicles the deep friendship between Jerry Garcia & David Grisman. David Grisman appeared on the Grateful Deads American Beauty album. The two recorded a number of duet albums, including the childrens album Not for Kids Only.

Editors Choice: Grateful Dawg, View DVDology

Ricky Jay is an American actor & professional sleight-of-hand artist. Jay is known for his signature card tricks, card throwing, feats of memory & inimitable stage patter. At least two of his shows, Ricky Jay & His 52 Assistants & On the Stem, were directed by David Mamet, who has cast Jay in a number of his films. He has also appeared films by other directors, notably Boogie Nights. When not performing, he collects rare books & artifacts, has worked with libraries & museums on their collections & is the author of several books such as Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women & Cards As Weapons & a newsletter. Up until recently Ricky Jay was listed in the Guinness Book of Records for throwing a playing card 190 feet at 90 miles per hour. He can throw a playing card into a watermelon rind from ten paces. Mr. Jay created a consulting firm called Deceptive Practices, which provides Arcane Knowledge on a Need-To-Know Basis. Among his firms clients are the stage, television & film industries.

Editors Choice: Grateful Dawg, View DVDology

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