GARCIA, GRISMAN HAVE THEIR DAY IN 'DAWG'.Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic Though ``Grateful Dawg'' isn't much of a documentary, the pleasures it holds for acoustic music Acoustic music refers to music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electronic means. Given that electronic instruments are a very recent invention in the history of music, almost all musical instruments are fans and Deadheads in particular are probably beyond measure. Put together by Gillian Grisman, the film charts the low-key collaboration between her father, progressive mandolinist David Grisman David Grisman (born March 23, 1945 in Hackensack, New Jersey) is a noted bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist and composer of acoustic music. In the early 1990s, he started the Acoustic Disc record label in an effort to preserve and spread acoustic or instrumental music. , and the Grateful Dead's late, legendary guitar genius Jerry Garcia. The duo first met, and jammed, outside of a Pennsylvania show by bluegrass bluegrass, any species of the large and widely distributed genus Poa, chiefly range and pasture grasses of economic importance in temperate and cool regions. In general, bluegrasses are perennial with fine-leaved foliage that is bluish green in some species. patriarch Bill Monroe in 1964, and even though their careers soon set off on greatly divergent paths, the San Francisco psychedelic and the Jersey folkie folk·ie also folk·y n. pl. folk·ies 1. A folk singer or musician. 2. One who is an enthusiast of folk music. adj. would sporadically meet and express their love of acoustic music for more than three decades afterward. Grisman and Garcia provided the nucleus for Old & In the Way, the short-lived, early 1970s string band that turned on a generation of hippies to traditional mountain music. They reconstituted as Garcia/Grisman in the early '90s, and as such released a series of impressive albums that not only dug deep into the misty past of Anglo-Celtic-American folk, but experimented in world-influenced jazz (we hear a lot of what went into their group's magnum opus, ``Arabia''), ran twangier takes on Dead classics (``Friend of the Devil''), picked away at outside genre hits such as the reggae chestnut ``Sitting in Limbo'' and B.B. King's ``The Thrill Is Gone'' (we see the whole music video, in which the two aging hair bears are done up to look as Jazz Age slick as humanly possible) and even a terrific album of children's music. But although director Grisman had her pick from a wealth of archive photos, home video, performance footage and welcoming access to, apparently, everyone who ever played with or appreciated her dad and Jerry, the movie never really tells us much about their creative process. We learn that it was a nice break for Jerry from the constant grind and worshipful wor·ship·ful adj. 1. Given to or expressive of worship; reverent or adoring. 2. Chiefly British Used as a respectful form of address. demands of the Dead's extraordinary touring and recording schedule, and that Grisman could be a precision taskmaster task·mas·ter n. 1. One who imposes tasks, especially burdensome or laborious ones. 2. A source of burden or responsibility: The profession of medicine is a stern taskmaster. (although he comes off about as intense as a daffodil daffodil: see amaryllis. daffodil Bulb-forming flowering plant (Narcissus pseudonarcissus), also called common daffodil or trumpet narcissus, native to northern Europe and widely cultivated there and in North America. It grows to about 16 in. ). But for all the fine musicianship and musicological mu·si·col·o·gy n. The historical and scientific study of music. mu  si·co·log scholarship that went into their work, Grisman (and the other talking heads) prove frustratingly inarticulate inarticulate /in·ar·tic·u·late/ (in?ahr-tik´u-lat)1. not having joints; disjointed. 2. uttered so as to be unintelligible; incapable of articulate speech. about the art behind it. As for any insight on Garcia's descent into self-obliteration, well, forget about it. All these folks loved him, are sad he's gone, and that's all there is about that. But while a smarter, deeper movie would have been nice, as a semi-intimate, more-or-less concert film, ``Grateful Dawg'' will surely delight the faithful and reward the interested. Good music may not be all you need to make a great movie, but it's enough for a fine ol' time. ``GRATEFUL DAWG'' (Rated PG-13: language) The stars: Jerry Garcia, David Grisman. Behind the scenes: Produced and directed by Gillian Grisman. Released by Sony Pictures Classics Running time: One hour, 21 minutes. Playing: Nuart, West L.A. Our rating: Three stars CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Grateful Dead guitar genius Jerry Garcia, left, and mandolinist David Grisman share the stage - and the screen - in the documentary film ``Grateful Dawg.'' |
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