Well-Matched: The Best Of Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia

Tremendous:
On many (if not most) Jerry/Grateful Dead CDs...you tend to program for the songs you like. On "Well Matched" there is no need to program. Each and every track is tremendous. I was especially impressed by the deep, deep blues sound of the track called Lonley Avenue. That be the blues! I don't normally comment on packaging, but it is kinda cool the way the whole CD is packaged exactly like a book of matches...so fire up! It's all good.

Keystone Redux: a nice alternative:
FOr those of you who'd rather not invest in all four or five, or however many releases and rereleases Fantasy Records has pumped out from the Garcia Saunders sessions at Keystone Berkeley in the early 70's, this one cd covers most of the bases without sticking too much in spaceland. One missing ingredient, that would have been an excellent inclusion, but isn't, so it gets only 4 stars, would have been "Like A Road"- easily the very best thing in the original 2 record set. But that's really the only gripe. You get The Harder They Come, Positively 4th Street, and the (prior unreleased) Second That Emotion. There IS a good deal of filler taken from Merl's "Keepers" album, but for those of you who aren't familiar with THAT, this will suffice to replace that in your collection UNLESS you are the fanatical completist. I like this record & can leave it on while doing lots of puttering round the house...

Well Matched- Indeed!:
I mightily enjoyed watching Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia perform in the smaller venues they played at during the early to mid '70's especially at the Bottom Line in NYC. 'Well-Matched' is not only a very appropriate title, but for those who mainly know Garcia's main body of work, this disc will shed a glimpse as to what Saunders & Garcia were concocting during their extremely fertile musical period, which also served as a excellent alternative to what Jerry was doing with the Dead. From my perspective- Merl infected Garcia with a lot of blues, soul, funk, and jazz, and as part time band member Martin Fierro told me, "Garcia took to Merl like a sponge, and had that nimble ability to absorb and apply various styles and genres of music into his already expansive repertoire.' Precisely! All of the songs on this CD have been previously issued on Fantasy LP's & CD's; 'Heavy Turbulance' 'Fire Up' 'Merl Saunders & Friends/Keepers' and the various 'Live at the Keystone' recordings, with lone exception of the so-so cover of Smokey Robinson's 'I Second That Emotion.' But blues fans will dig the 11:32 cover of 'Mystery Train' which opens the recording, and the Doc Pomus authored 'Lonely Avenue' will knock you on your butt with its soulful background vocalists, Merl's solid B3, and Jerry's guitar explodes on this very straight-ahead blues cover. JJ Cale's 'After Midnight' is also another highlight, Merl's solid B3 is reminiscent of many of the great soulful-funky recordings made by the likes of McGriff, McDuff, and Dr. Lonnie Smith with the only difference being Jerry's very strong & upbeat vocals, and his extremely creative guitar playing. The late great Vassar Clements shows up along with David Grisman for a spirited version of Jimmy Rogers 'That's Alright.' One of funkiest tracks on this disk is Saunders 'Welcome to the Basement' with members of the Tower of Power Horn section, check out John Kahn's deep bass phrasings, Merl's various heady keyboard playing, and the outstanding horn charts by the Bay areas greatest soul-funk band- TOP. Excellent liner notes by long time Dead affiliate Blair Jackson, and the disk was compiled by the nationally syndicated Grateful Dead Hour's- David Gans. Additionally, the CD's packaging. is assembled as such- as a matchbook, with strike strip on the back, which is very fitting as it appropriately signifies the fiery display of musicianship throughout this very enjoyable recording. Saunders & Garcia were definitely 'Well-Matched' Hopefully Concord will continue to dig through its Fantasy vaults for more Saunders & Garcia recordings, as this is one very fine collaboration that needs and deserves additional documenting. Bob Putignano: http://www.SoundsofBlue.com

Jerry in his prime:
After listening to some of the vinyl of the Jerry/Merl coop, I had to get a CD, and this compilation was exactly what I hoped for. Every track on this disc is absolutely amazing. Jerry is in a groove with his guitar improv and sounds great lyrically as well. Merl and Jerry complement each other perfectly with their flowing contributions to the jams on each and every track. If you're a Garcia fan and don't own any of the Saunders/Garcia volumes, you would be silly not to get your hands on this. Simply a requirement for any new or experienced fan.

Awsome jamming CD:
As a long time fan of this duo. I was impressed with this CD, really great jamming tunes. For more, check out the Pure Jerry release. Happy jamming. TCBRN.