Man, I miss living in New York City, I remember countless times walking past some musicians in a park and wondering why so few people stopped to appreciate the music, but man is THIS something I wish I had caught! Well, on 11/09/13, in the midst of NYC's Jazz & Colors Festival, before the Phil Lesh & Friends show at the Nokia Theatre, (it'll ALWAYS be the Nokia in my heart!), and the Eric Krasno, Neal Evans, Joe Russo show at the Brooklyn Bowl, (another fire trio!), Phil, Kraz, and Russo teamed up for an unannounced half hour jam in front of a tiny crowd of onlookers in the middle of Central Park.
Despite my disappointment regarding the announcement of Furthur's hiatus in 2014, it wasn't long before I wondered what Phil would be up to, and sure enough, the New York Times reported that Phil will not be putting down that bass anytime soon, and it sure sounds like he's intending on bringing out a whole new host of "Friends" next year. I've been hoping for Nels Cline, and while it looks like he'll be busy doing some touring around Europe with Medeski, Martin & Wood in March, that doesn't mean he couldn't play with Phil Lesh & Friends too, in fact, if those shows will be starting in April, the timing looks pretty good! And I'm super excited for some Medeski, Cline, Martin & Wood action, way more so than I would have been if they were to do another album/tour with Scofield. And PL&F has played with Medeski and Scofield in the past, so whose to say we won't see all three of those musicians with PL&F next year. And it looks like there's a pretty good chance we'll get some PL&F shows with Kraz too! On 11/14/13, at the BK Bowl, the Terrapin Crossroad's Band with Phil Lesh did in fact bring out Krasno for a number of songs, so that looks like a promising possibility as well, imagine PL&F with Kraz, Neal, and Deitch! Or with Alan Evans, for some straight up Phil Lesh & Soulive type action! Or perhaps we'll be seeing Phil for the next Bowlive residency at the BK Bowl! All I know is, I'll be seeing y'all next year in Port Chester at The Cap. A lot! And maybe, jussst mayyyybe, I'll be able to organize some after-parties at a secret location I know right across the water...
