LIVE: John Sebastian and David Grisman at City Winery, NYC (10/17/14)
It was a homecoming of sorts for two college buddies as John Sebastian and David Grisman performed together at City Winery in NYC last Friday night. Greenwich Village native Sebastian, and Grisman, a Washington Square Park folkie in his formative years, met at NYU in the early 1960s. Soon, both began working professionally in the Even Dozen Jug Band. “If you can call it professionally,” Grisman joked during the show.
The duo started with unnecessary introductions, each extolling the other’s veritable and flourishing qualifications. Sebastian remarked that Grisman’s lilting mandolin could be found in nearly every section of any record store in the ’60s and ’70s, and the variety of tunes in the duo’s sets reflected that eclectic-ness: jug band, blues, jazz, folk, and even rock ‘n’ roll, using only guitar, mandolin, banjo, and harmonica.
The set list featured a large chunk of songs from the pair’s 2007 album Satisfied, including covers of Mississippi John Hurt (“Coffee Blues”) and the Everly Brothers (an angelic, instrumental “Walk Right Back”). Sebastian and Grisman exhibited immediate chemistry on familiar tunes, their eyes locked together in a musical staring contest. Grisman’s skill quickly turned the mandolin into an otherworldly instrument, his flying fingers defining what it is to make something “look easy.” Sebastian provided a rhythmic background, finger picking on an acoustic. He also handled most of the vocals, but passed the mic over to Grisman for “Shady Grove,” a song he “used to play with Jerry Garcia.” (Grisman’s words.)
Obviously, the Grateful Dead fans in the audience were well-pleased — but so were those of the Lovin’ Spoonful. Sebastian broke into a few Spoonful tunes, including “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?” “Lovin’ You,” and “Summer in the City.” But it was on “Daydream” that the room suddenly exploded and from the very first line, the crowd was singing along with Sebastian on one of his most beloved songs.
During the encore, the pair welcomed to the stage Bob Gurland, another former member of the Even Dozens, and his extraordinary “mouth trumpet.” Immediately recognizable to us fans of the Even Dozen Jug Band’s eponymous (and only) album, it was a rare treat to witness three members of the star-studded combo together again.
And though another member of the group, Maria D’Amato, was absent, her presence was felt on “Passing Fantasy,” a song Sebastian wrote about his one and only date with the singer in the ’60s (a Jim Kweskin Jug Band concert where she met a young crooner named Geoff Muldaur, and…). But, as Sebastian added, laughing, “When Maria gets to Woodstock, she calls me first.”
(Cover photo by Catherine Sebastian.)
