Laughing Water

Without offense to the often-brilliant lyricist Robert Hunter, it's always the singing and the words that ring hollow when another band tries to replicate the Grateful Dead experience. With all those pesky words out of the way, Jazz Is Dead are free to lay down 62 minutes of sweeping funk fusion. Not merely a pale imitator, this ferocious quintet adds to the creative process by injecting its own adventurous spirit into the Dead's music, not to mention an assortment of masterful chops. Here the group tackles 1973's Wake of the Flood, one of the Dead's most nuanced records, and the musicians themselves seem to delight in the music's subtle twists (check out bassist Alphonso Johnson's cascading lines in "Row Jimmy"). Even the forgotten "Let Me Sing Your Blues Away" becomes a joyous, organ-fueled romp thanks to T Lavitz's keyboard work. Guitarist Jimmy Herring handles both the restrained vocal parts and the frenzied leads with aplomb. And besides, any chance to hear one of Bill Monroe's old Blue Grass Boys (fiddler Vassar Clements, who appeared on the original album) soar atop the throbbing bass of a former Weather Report member is worth the price of admission. --Marc Greilsamer