Folky fiends together again

Fortunately, David Grisman and Jerry Garcia are both fans of Bill Monroe.\nA decades-long musical partnership spawned in the air of Pennsylvania's Bill Monroe festival in 1964 that brought bluegrass flame keepers David Grisman and Jerry Garcia together. Now, the duo that brought you The Pizza Tapes and numerous other pieces of old-time beauty are the subject of "Grateful Dawg," a documentary. This will be one film where nothing matters but the music in it. \nTaking Bill Monroe's advice to create a personal music style, Jerry did Dead and David did Dawg. Now, with tracks spanning different epochs of Dead and Dawg's partnership, Grateful Dawg: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is a documentary in itself. Live and studio tracks lay out the multifaceted talent of these folky fiends -- contrasting the structured, story songs with those that have more acoustic jam style. The live and studio versions of the title track, for example, lend an in-depth look at the rollicking instrumental. \nGarcia's and Grisman's vocals suit bluegrass like well-tuned mandolins -- melodic, yet capable of the sorrowful sound of a lament. Playing guitar, mandolin, mandola and banjo between the two of them, instrumentals are more than developed, including various solos by either artist. With various musicians filling in on violin, percussion and bass, Grateful Dawg's secret code of talented folk style is unbreakable. \nStandout tracks include jazzed-up bluegrass on B.B. King's "The Thrill is Gone" and omnipotent vocals on Bill Monroe's "Wayfaring Stranger." All of the Garcia/Grisman originals need no hype -- they stand on their own.\nIn Grateful Dawg, the lesser-known, legend-worthy styles of Garcia and Grisman can live on. Their combination of the simple pleasures of folk arts and technical musical wizardry lets the music speak for itself.