CD Review

Garcia, Grisman & Rice
The Pizza Tapes
(Acoustic Disc, 2000)

Here's a welcome novelty. Back in 1993, Jerry Garcia, David Grisman (mandolin) and Tony Rice (guitar) spent two evenings jamming in the studio - informal, acoustic and totally live. Then the tapes mysteriously disappeared. According to the best reconstruction of events (or urban legend), a mix of the tapes were lifted by a pizza delivery boy and before long, bootleg copies of the sessions were circulating freely among Grateful Dead fans, raising few eyebrows in the tape-swapping sub-culture that has always had the blessing of the group.

Now, for the rest of us, the sessions have been released as The Pizza Tapes, and if nothing else it stresses Garcia's strong ties to traditional music and the folk scene. The twenty tracks include traditional songs "Man of Constant Sorrow," "Rosalee McFall," "Amazing Grace," "Shady Grove" and "House of the Rising Sun." It also includes Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and "Long Black Veil." In between are several laid back jams. The casual setting, the conversational interludes, and the impromptu song choices made by these three giants make this disc more than a musical oddity. It's a window on the creative process, on what music does to musicians. A veritable slice of life....
-HB