Dark Star
Feb. 24, 1974
Winterland Arena
A dense, labyrinthine tapestry of tight, agile interplay. The playing here is not rushed; rather, it’s careful and concentrated, like a team of surgeons working on your brain. Here and there, little zygotic wisps of the MLB jam appear and then quickly dissolve away. At one point, Bobby tries to introduce the ‘Spanish Jam’, but it gets vetoed. Near the conclusion, Bobby, in a tit for tat, shuts down an attempt by Jerry to stoke the flames of an MLB jam. BUT this is a good thing, for what we get instead is a remarkable, spontaneously composed (but elements of it sound vaguely familiar) little jam that blooms like an aural fountain. And then we are treated to a very good ‘Morning Dew’.