Keystone Encores
| Keystone Encores | ||||
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| Live album by Merl Saunders, Jerry Garcia, John Kahn, Bill Vitt | ||||
| Released | March 1, 1988 | |||
| Recorded | July 10 – 11, 1973 | |||
| Genre | Rock, jazz-rock, rhythm and blues | |||
| Length | 55:24 (CD) | |||
| Label | Fantasy | |||
| Producer | Merl Saunders, John Kahn | |||
| Merl Saunders and Jerry Garcia chronology | ||||
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| Merl Saunders chronology | ||||
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| Jerry Garcia chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
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Allmusic (Volume I) |
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Allmusic (Volume II) |
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Keystone Encores is an album by Merl Saunders, Jerry Garcia, John Kahn, and Bill Vitt. It was recorded live at the Keystone in Berkeley, California, on July 10 and 11, 1973, and released on CD by Fantasy Records in 1988. It was also released, with additional tracks, as two separate LPs called Keystone Encores Volume I and Keystone Encores Volume II.
Keystone Encores was the followup to Live at Keystone, a two-disc LP released in 1973 containing songs from the July 10 and 11 concerts. These shows were among the many that Merl Saunders and Jerry Garcia played together from February 1971 to July 1975 when the Grateful Dead were not on tour. On these two nights, the lineup of the band was Saunders on keyboards, Garcia on guitar and vocals, John Kahn on bass, and Bill Vitt on drums.
Writing on Allmusic about Keystone Encores Volume I, Lindsay Planer said, "By mid-1973 the band was virtually a fixture at the Keystone and... their languid and unhurried style was the perfect blend of spontaneous improvisation and skilled musicianship. In particular, Garcia and Saunders carved out a fresh extension for Garcia to feed his insatiable love for jazz-flavored R&B. The combination of Saunders' sweet and soulful organ leads and Garcia's crystalline intonations are flawlessly supported by Kahn's assertive, yet elegant interjections."
Writing on Allmusic about Keystone Encores Volume II, Dave Connolly said, "Although Merl Saunders (who brought these recordings to light) gets top billing, the real attraction here is Jerry Garcia. Garcia's vocals and dexterous guitar playing shine, with Saunders' swirling organ lower in the mix. Bill Vitt (who had appeared with Saunders and Garcia on 1972's Heavy Turbulence) and John Kahn (then a member of Old and in the Way) are primarily here for support, laying down a foundation of drums and bass that never threatens to eclipse the two stars. The four songs featured here, all covers, are bluesy numbers peppered with the kind of country pickin' that the Grateful Dead covered on occasion, though without that band's intricate interplay."
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