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If you saw or heard the summer of 2015’s Fare Thee Well concerts, your curiosity was no doubt piqued by the provocative sounds during the set breaks. Turns out former Ryan Adams and the Cardinals and current Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Hard Working Americans, GospelbeacH guitarist Neal Casal curated the freewheeling jams, audio highlights of which are now available in CD, vinyl and digital form.
Wholly improvised over the course of two days playing and recording, the relaxed ambiance of Interludes For the Dead may leave some listeners impatient, but it works on its own terms even as it was ideal for its purpose as accompaniment for the projections shown during set breaks at the Santa Clara and Chicago events. And the artwork for the physical releases are an elementary but nonetheless suitable mirror of those graphics, which in turn conjures a quietly intoxicating atmosphere even outside the context of its origin.
In his essay recounting the conception and execution of Interludes for the Dead, leader Casal writes like he plays, with intelligence and nuance. Yet he’s sensitive with not just his own turns of phrase, but to those of the other musicians, the result of which is music that has its own particular logic, right from its very deliberate beginning on “Hallucinate A Solution.” Not surprisingly, Casal’s guitar leads the ebb and flow of the sound, but its edge, sharper as it needs to be in bringing the quartet’s jamming to relative crescendo, is only slightly more prominent than keyboardist Adam MacDougall’s instruments.
In fact, the panoply of sounds the latter coaxes from pianos, organs, synthesizers, clavinet etc., most distinctively on “Kasey’s Bones,” are absolutely integral in making sure Interludes for the Dead doesn’t sink into a predictable ennui. The rhythm section is indispensable in that regard as well because, with individual tracks timing over twenty minutes, bassist Dan Horne and drummer Mark Levy must remain stoutly reliable; the former, in particular, is insistent enough just often enough. And the simplicity of Circles Around the Sun’s sparse instrumentation becomes a virtue all its own as it’s captured by recording engineer J.P. Hesser. Bass and drums are a giant pulse on the aptly named “Gilbert’s Groove,” around which Casal and MacDougall’s colored textures undulate in contrast, the four-way interaction conjuring up just enough positive tension. And if there’s anything better (or as good as) hearing a cut like “Space Wheel” fill the room, it’s the liquid likes of these seventeen-plus minutes flowing through headphones.
The title of, and nano-second teases of this particular cut aside, and notwithstanding the derivative (right down to the coy title) likes of “Scarlotta’s Magnolias” , Casal and company, to their immense credit, resist the temptation to quote or tease Grateful Dead themes directly or often. Which is perhaps the reason “Mountains of the Moon” appears here: to supply an avenue for overt homage and a linear interpretation which, in its own way, offers a mirrored tribute to the source and this band’s own creation. The acoustic foundation might well have been used more often here to avoid the sneaking repetition that afflicts the album fifteen minutes prior.
In contrast, while the bright bounce of the playing of “Farewell Franklins” renders its genesis readily discernible, that obvious reference, in turn, only reaffirms its deeply infectious nature. And, when it turns noisy at the end, the sonic metamorphosis becomes another sensation of subtle surprise the likes of which permeates Interludes for the Dead in one way shape or form, for the better part of its two-hours plus duration.
