Joe Gallant

Starting out rather simply, as a jazz-rock trio in 1982, (electric bass, baritone saxophone and flute), by the time they released their album Terrapin, Joe Gallant & the Illuminati had grown to a 17-member big band. Bringing in as many influences as they did members, the group focused on reinterpreting the music of the <a href="spotify:artist:4TMHGUX5WI7OOm53PqSDAT">Grateful Dead</a> through the idioms of jazz, bluegrass, fusion and funk. Nearly simultaneously with the release of Terrapin were two <a href="spotify:artist:4TMHGUX5WI7OOm53PqSDAT">Grateful Dead</a> collections performed by the Illuminati issued on the Relix label. Terrapin, however, was one of the band's most ambitious projects, bringing together a host of guest musicians -- there were 73 musicians in all and stars like Bill Walton, <a href="spotify:artist:7fmKtIgmxqNEKjATioVNsu">Pat Boone</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6xFAcbsGiNrrnMTzToP6kx">Ike Willis</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:55CXG5KDJpRYwBopfYAJHa">Jorma Kaukonen</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:16R5esBHEkxTw1QO9dnWM5">Patricia Barber</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1pClFI8zcVBEDnKuEbTWjT">Buddy Cage </a>all lent a hand. The result was not always recognizable as <a href="spotify:artist:4TMHGUX5WI7OOm53PqSDAT">Grateful Dead</a> material -- the songs had been stripped down and rebuilt by Gallant, but the nature of the album remained that of the respectful tribute and the influence of the <a href="spotify:artist:4TMHGUX5WI7OOm53PqSDAT">Dead</a> often shown through. ~ Stacia Proefrock, Rovi