photo credit: Greg Homolka

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“I wanna say to my sisters and my brothers, keep the faith.”

When Oteil & Friends took the stage at Revolution Hall in Portland, Ore., on Friday, Sept. 6, the night’s initial number, “Brothers and Sisters,” began with the underlying casualness of a horse-like trot pulled from a spaghetti western. As Melvin Seals’ magic on the B3 organ coalesced with Steve Kimock’s bellow of guitar and eventually met Burbridge’s bassline, it evoked the version of this song that appears on the Jerry Garcia Band’s self-titled live release drawn from a 1990 Warfield performance. As the band began to move into increasingly improvised territory helmed at the count of John Morgan Kimock, the music also reverberated in the same fashion as JGB’s stirring take on the song 34 years earlier.

For someone born in 1995, instances of this caliber are few and far between. But, with a keen ear and hope for more music like this, I stopped my celebration and observed what was happening around me, as muscle and memory intertwined.

On the other side of “Brothers and Sisters,” Burbridge began a trend that would continue throughout the night, with odes to his storied career and the music that shaped him, touching on his discography through the arrival of the Peacemakers’ Believer-era “No More Doubt.”

With another melodic crack meant to burst with the electric reverb synonymous with Garcia’s tiger guitar delivery of Compliments’ “That’s What Love Will Make You Do,” Oteil and company’s approach was reminiscent of JGB’s late February evening at Kean College in 1980 that appears on After Midnight.

A high point of set one was the instrumental dexterity of longtime Burbridge collaborator Jason Crosby, who went from profound moments of instrumental conversation, a public-facing tête-à-tête on the keys, to expressive interludes of violin–added opulence layered atop scrumptious takes on beloved classics. One such number was “Midnight Moonlight,” which took on a bluegrass feel at Crosby’s touch.

The song simmered and stretched before it was put to rest, ultimately providing enough time for the band to catch their breaths before shifting to the Gregg Allman-penned “Dreams,” which preceded set one closer, “Ruben and Cherise,” a number that might as well have been intended for Lamar Williams Jr.’s gospel-tinged vocals. Whereas so many adaptations lack the soul and feeling of Robert Hunter’s desired takeaway, Williams and the band evoked the song’s emotionally dominant throughline, taking the rendition to much greater depths than a typical cover, just as it was intended.

One of Oteil & Friends’ greatest strengths is their ability to function like a family, saving space for individuality that allows each member to flourish and bask in onstage creativity. Such was the case with the set two opener, “Mother’s Song,” a pull from the elder Kimock’s 2017 released Satellite City LP.

Lamar Williams Jr. later silenced any distracted spectators using solely the power of his voice during “Love & War,” a co-write with Burbridge that debuted this past winter at the Mexico-based concert getaway Dead Ahead. From the contemplative lean of the last number, they referenced the Iceland-tracked Lovely View of Heaven LP, with “Standing on the Moon,” before a final homage to the Allman Brothers Band. An absolute monster, “Whipping Post,” was served on a blazing platter with high-flying instrumental garnish [flattery extended toward Tom Guarna], steeped in mutual respect and unexplainable telepathy between seven sage musicians.  

For now, technology can’t bring back Jerry or Gregg, but Oteil & Friends will fill the musical gap. And, for anyone craving an evening that feels like the second coming of JGB, keep the faith; this group has your back.