Dead Symphony: An Orchestral Tribute to the Music of the Grateful Dead

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If you thought it extremely unlikely to see Grateful Dead merch being hawked during a public television fundraising campaign, as has happened in recent years, you probably never imagined something called An Orchestral Tribute to The Music of The Grateful Dead. But lo and behold here it is, in the form of Dead Symphony.

Overall it works. Not that The Russian National Orchestra as conducted by Lee Johnson is going to create anything as vast, magnificent and mysterious as the Dead themselves exploring “St. Stephen,” but even a Deadhead has to agree on one thing: this band brings out the melodic beauty of most of these songs in a very real way.

Not surprisingly, some tracks work better than others. The gorgeous balladry of “Stella Blue” and “To Lay Me Down,” blossoms as rendered by the orchestra. The rhythmic grace of “Here Comes Sunshine” and “Bird Song,” however, is too subdued to translate to this large unit, while “Sugar Magnolia” just never gets going.

And therein lies the fundamental difference between these performances of generally superlative songs and those of the band who originally conceived them: the musicianship of the Grateful Dead contains so much intrinsic charm that even their shortfalls could pique a listener’s curiosity.

But to hear this music in this ornate fashion may entice the uninitiated to start moving down the golden road to unlimited devotion and investigate the real thing, which will make what seems like a sketchy prospect all the more worthwhile.

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