If your only reference point for Jerry Garcia is as the ringmaster for the Grateful Dead’s glorious gallimaufry of rock, country, folk and psychedelia, you should know there was another quite prolific side of the tireless guitarist’s persona — leading the Jerry Garcia Band (aka JGB), in which he indulged his love for classic soul, R&B and gospel with a rhythm section that grooved in a more familiar way than the Dead’s. In that world, he had two main keyboard partners-in-crime: Merle Saunders and Melvin Seals. If you want to see a textbook example of the word “soul,” check YouTube for Seals’ organ solo with JGB on the Marvin Gaye classic “How Sweet It Is (to Be Loved by You)” on Sept. 1, 1990. Seals starts pounding the keys at the 4:15 mark, and it’s nothing complicated — as an old guitar teacher of mine would have described it, “Just the butter notes, baby!” — but it’s rendered with conviction and joy that still send chills down my spine after dozens of views. John Kadlecik, meanwhile, is among the premier channelers of Garcia’s guitar style. He was a co-founder of the ultimate Dead cover band Dark Star Orchestra, and he left that band in 2009 to play with none other than Phil Lesh and Bob Weir in their post-Jerry project Furthur. Garcia obviously won’t be there in the flesh, but show up at The Basement East for this incarnation of JGB and close your eyes, and you’ll have no doubt he’s there in spirit. 8 p.m. at The Basement East, 917 Woodland St. JACK SILVERMAN
Melvin Seals and JGB Feat. John Kadlecik
