New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Solo pianist Rob Catterton brings a fresh perspective to the music of the
Grateful Dead with his new album, "A Grand Piano Tribute to the Grateful Dead," an unexpected mix of popular and overlooked songs played with soulful abandon and skillful improvisations. From the opening "Jack Straw" to the half-hour medley culminating in "Dark Star," through the wistful "Rosemary" at album's end, the album gives listeners a thoroughly enjoyable new way to experience nine classic Dead compositions. Catterton has the ear and the chops to do justice to the genius of Jerry Garcia and his fellow musicians, and proves that the Dead's musical adventurousness lives on in this new release.
Remastered by the Dead's legendary audio engineer, Jeffrey Norman in 2017, the album combines the silvery sound of Catterton's touch with the beauty of the Dead's original songs.
"My goal was to bring the magic and urgency of Jerry Garcia's lead guitar to the piano," Rob recently remarked. "When I recorded the album, I just closed my eyes and let the music flow through me." The album was originally conceived and created by Catterton in 2015, using home recordings of a 111-year-old Steinway Model O piano.
"A Grand Piano Tribute to the Grateful Dead" has met with critical acclaim, receiving national airplay on
Sirius XM's Tales from the Golden Road (2016) as well as
David Gans' nationally-syndicated
Grateful Dead Radio Hour (2017). Lyricism abounds in Catterton's silvery hands, and in July, 2018 the album received its first international airplay as the featured album on Frank Poppe's STASH radio from Hamburg, Germany.
CDs can be purchased through Amazon or CDBaby.com, and the handsome six-panel, no-plastic CD case features two classic, previously-unreleased black-and-white photos of the
Grateful Dead in 1970, performing at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, NY. The album is also available for streaming or download on Amazon, Apple Music, CDBaby, iTunes, Spotify, Tidal, and most online outlets.
"A Grand Piano Tribute to the Grateful Dead" is a copyrighted work published by Sonoma Coast Records. Dedicated to bringing quality music back into the music industry, the solar-powered independent label brings listeners an astonishing mix of superb archival and newly-recorded psychedelic rock, jazz, and blues releases. Watch for upcoming releases from
Sonny Lewis,
Craig Allison, and Rob Catterton.
