Jamcam Chronicles: Season 2 Set Six : 3rd Annual Pangaea Benefit

Season 2 Set Six from Jamcam Chronicles brings you a tasty performance from the Everyone Orchestra at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Oregon.  As everyone should know by now, the Everyone Orchestra is an ever evolving cast of musicians coming together to create music on the spot, with the help of rotating conductors, and audience participation.  For those that haven’t participated in one of their shows, this DVD perfectly captures the collaborative and collective feel that is present between band and audience at every EO show.

This particular night was a benefit for the Pangaea Project (www.pangaeaproject.org), and featured a stellar lineup: Matt Butler (conductor, percussion), Tye North (bass), Jon Fishman (drums), Kai Eckhardt (bass), Asher Fulero (keyboards), Tony Furtado (banjo, guitar), Scott Law (guitar), Jamie Masefield (mandolin), Reggie Watts (vocals), Jason Hann (percussion), and a wonderful horn section of Robin Jackson, Lesley Kernochan, and Eric Miller.  Fishman, who has participated in all three annual Pangaea Benefit shows, notes during a taped interview, “what Everyone Orchestra does musically is a natural marriage between what Pangaea is trying to do, and this is like a musical version of that within the musical community.”

The music is almost entirely improvised as it happens, and has the expected low points and high points (leaning heavier on the latter).  The non-improvisational exceptions are an upbeat, exploratory, guitar-driven tune called “Burn” written by Scott Law, and a very interesting take on Phish’s “You Enjoy Myself.”  Touching one of the most storied, and cherished songs in Jamband lore is a daunting task which is handled singularly by Fulero all the way up until just after the boy, man, god, shit section, at which point Fishman, and Eckhardt, (and shortly after, the rest of the band) lend a hand.  The tune really picks up steam once the full band takes a hold of it and they’re allowed to follow the music into the untested waters of total musical freedom.

Jamie Masefield, in a candid interview spliced into the set, sums it up best.  "Once (the audience) realizes that you’re really not sure where you’re going with this thing, and you’re really feeling in the dark, suddenly they’re so much more connected with you.  It’s almost as if they want to see if you can pull it off, and there’s a concern, an interest, a human curiosity about these guys; (they) obviously don’t know how they got to this thing but I can see that they’re working it out and they’re putting things together, what’s going to happen? And in those moments where you’re fortunate enough where everything does come together, this thing just starts mushrooming.”

for more info see: http://www.jamcamdvd.com/

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