Jazz Is Dead: Jimmy Herring (guitar); T. Lavitz (keyboards); Alphonso Johnson (bass); Billy Cobham (drums).

"Something new is waiting to be born"--so, appropriately enough, enter Jazz Is Dead. One feels a grateful camaraderie with these jazz-heads, who boast collective credits ranging from Bob Weir to Miles Davis, as they rejuvenate some of their favorite Dead tunes. While the use of jazz vocabulary and sensibility in Dead reinterpretations is hardly new-sprung, the jam factor in this venture is juicy. Guitarist Jimmy Herring (Aquarium Rescue Unit) makes an especially sweet contribution with a virtuosic fanfare that veers easily between blues, rock and jazz stylings (he really does play the changes, honest).

Naturally drawn to the Dead's more complex material, the band draws mainly on tunes from BLUES FOR ALLAH and MARS HOTEL. "King Solomon's Marbles" is as frantic as ever, opening space for Herring's sizzling phrases and zesty group funk-outs. Throughout, Billy Cobham delivers lively drumming that combines power with thoughtful restraint. And yes, someone's finally done a groovy cover version of "Unbroken Chain," mellow organ grinding provided courtesy of T. Lavitz. While not exactly a jazz date, BLUE LIGHT RAIN certainly swings this music as it rips.