Joe Russo | |
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Background information | |
Born | December 18, 1976 |
Origin | Brooklyn, New York, United States |
Genres | Indie rock, jazz fusion |
Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
Instrument(s) | Drums, percussion, guitar, keyboards, bass |
Years active | 2000–present |
Labels | Butter Problems, Rope-A-Dope |
Website | JoeRussosAlmostDead.com |
Joe Russo (born December 18, 1976) is an American drummer and half of the Benevento/Russo Duo. [1] He has toured, performed and recorded with a number of other bands, including Cass McCombs, A Big Yes and a Small No, [2] Fat Mama, [3] Robert Walter's 20th Congress, Bustle In Your Hedgerow, Younger Brother, Shpongle, Tom Hamilton's American Babies, [4] the Trey Anastasio/ Mike Gordon duo, the Gene Ween Band, and Furthur (featuring Phil Lesh and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead). He also plays with the Shpongle Live Band. [5] In 2013 he formed a Grateful Dead tribute band called Joe Russo's Almost Dead.
His Roland SPD-S sampler is often used for electronic drum samples, which play an important role in many of The Duo's compositions, such as "Welcome Red", "Becky", and "My Pet Goat". Two songs appearing on Play Pause Stop , "Memphis" and "Powder", were written by Russo and feature his guitar playing.[ citation needed ]
Russo has twice won the New Groove award at the Jammys, in 2000 and 2005. In mid 2006 he was the drummer in a collaboration with Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, and Marco Benevento (sometimes referred to as GRAB or Mike & the Italians).
During late 2008, Russo traveled to London to record an album with the band Younger Brother.
In December 2008, Russo joined Ween front man Gene Ween and fellow Bustle In Your Hedgerow band mates Scott Metzger and Dave Dreiwitz for a short east coast tour with an outfit called the Gene Ween Band. On this tour, Russo played his "house kit," which included a rare 30-inch bass drum purchased off of eBay.
In late 2009, Russo joined Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Jay Lane, Jeff Chimenti and John Kadlecik (from Dark Star Orchestra) to form the band Furthur. Jay Lane left Furthur in March 2010 to rejoin Primus, [6] and Russo continued to tour with the band as their sole drummer until they disbanded in November 2014. [7]
In 2013, Joe Russo formed a band called Joe Russo's Almost Dead with Ween bassist Dave Dreiwitz, Marco Benevento on keyboards and Scott Metzger and Tom Hamilton on vocals and guitars. Joe Russo's Almost Dead interpret the music of the Grateful Dead. The project was originally conceived for the Freaks Ball, an annual party hosted by the NYC-Freaks music community. [8]
Russo has recorded multiple albums with Craig Finn of the Hold Steady. [9]
In 2021 Russo formed a trio with keyboard player John Medeski and Dave Harrington, and in 2023 formed a trio with Medeski and guitarist Marc Ribot. [10]
Ernest Joseph "Trey" Anastasio III is an American guitarist, composer, and singer-songwriter best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Phish, which he co-founded in 1983. He is credited by name as composer of 152 Phish original songs, 141 of them as a solo credit, in addition to 41 credits attributed to the band as a whole.
Philip Chapman Lesh was an American musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he developed a unique style of playing improvised six-string bass guitar. He was their bassist throughout their 30-year career.
Phil Lesh and Friends was an American rock band formed and led by Phil Lesh, former bassist of the Grateful Dead.
William Kreutzmann Jr. is an American drummer and founding member of the rock band Grateful Dead. He played with the band for its entire thirty-year career, usually alongside fellow drummer Mickey Hart, and has continued to perform with former members of the Grateful Dead in various lineups, and with his own bands BK3, 7 Walkers and Billy & the Kids.
Robert Hall Weir is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead. Weir also founded and played in several other bands during and after his career with the Grateful Dead, including Kingfish, the Bob Weir Band, Bobby and the Midnites, Scaring the Children, RatDog, and Furthur, which he co-led with former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh. In 2015, Weir, along with former Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, joined with Grammy-winning singer/guitarist John Mayer, bassist Oteil Burbridge, and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti to form the band Dead & Company.
Michael Eliot Gordon is an American bass guitarist and vocalist most recognized as a founding member of the band Phish. In addition to bass, Gordon also plays banjo, piano, and guitar. He is also a filmmaker and author. He has released six solo studio albums and three studio albums with acoustic guitar pioneer Leo Kottke.
Younger Brother is an electronic duo formed in 2003 by Simon Posford and Benji Vaughan. Their debut album A Flock of Bleeps was released in 2003, followed by The Last Days of Gravity in 2007 and Vaccine in 2011.
Dave Dreiwitz is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the bassist for the bands Ween and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead.
The Jammy Award is an awards show for bands - referred to as jam bands - and other artists associated with live, improvisational music, created by Dean Budnick and Peter Shapiro. The Jammys are sponsored by Relix magazine, Jambands.com, and Shapiro. The Jammy Awards returned in 2008 to the WAMU Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City after taking a one-year break.
Marco Benevento is an American pianist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer, who has been a fixture of the New York experimental music rock and jazz scene since 1999. He is the founder and recording engineer of Fred Short, a recording studio in Upstate New York, and a member of the rock groups Benevento/Russo Duo and Joe Russo's Almost Dead, both of which feature his regular musical collaborator Joe Russo.
The Grateful Dead were an American rock band known for their lengthy, partially improvised performances, as well as for a loyal fan base who often followed the band for several shows or entire tours. They disbanded in 1995, following the death of de facto bandleader Jerry Garcia. Since then remaining members have reunited for a number of concert tours and one-off performances, often in very different configurations. The following is a list of instances where former Grateful Dead members have reunited.
The Benevento/Russo Duo is an American alternative jazz/rock band from New York City, featuring Marco Benevento on keyboard instruments and Joe Russo on drums.
Furthur was an American rock band founded in 2009 by former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Phil Lesh. The original lineup also included John Kadlecik of Dark Star Orchestra on lead guitar, RatDog's Jeff Chimenti on keyboards and Jay Lane on percussion, and Joe Russo of the Benevento/Russo Duo on drums. Named after the famous touring bus used by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters in the 1960s, Furthur was an improvisational jam band that performed music primarily from the extensive Grateful Dead songbook, as well as their own original music and that of several other well-known artists. In addition to the original members, the band's lineup included backup vocalists Sunshine Becker of the a cappella ensemble SoVoSó and Jeff Pehrson of the folk rock bands Box Set and the Fall Risk.
Tom Hamilton Jr. is an American songwriter, musician, and producer best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist for the bands Brothers Past, American Babies, Ghost Light, Joe Russo's Almost Dead, Bill Kreutzmann's Billy & the Kids, and Electron.
Lockn' Festival, first known as Interlocken Music Festival, was an annual four-day music festival held at Oak Ridge Farm near Arrington in Nelson County, Virginia. The festival focused primarily on jam bands and other music improvisation acts. Its inaugural event took place September 5–8, 2013, drew nearly 25,000 fans and featured notable groups such as Furthur, Trey Anastasio Band, Gov't Mule, Widespread Panic featuring John Fogerty, The String Cheese Incident featuring Zac Brown, and The Black Crowes.
The Peach Music Festival is a music festival started by the Allman Brothers Band and produced by Live Nation Entertainment that has been held annually since 2012 at the Pavilion at Montage Mountain and Montage Mountain Ski Resort in Scranton, Pennsylvania. One exception was in 2020.
Joe Russo's Almost Dead is an American rock band formed in 2013 that mainly covers the music of the Grateful Dead. Formed by Furthur and Benevento/Russo Duo drummer Joe Russo, the band played their first show on January 26, 2013 at the Brooklyn Bowl in Brooklyn, New York. In addition to drummer Joe Russo, the band also includes Ween's bassist Dave Dreiwitz, keyboardist Marco Benevento, Scott Metzger on guitar and vocals, and Tom Hamilton of Brothers Past and American Babies on guitar and vocals.
Move Me Brightly is a music documentary film. It contains live performances of Grateful Dead songs from a 2012 concert by Bob Weir and a number of other musicians, called "Move Me Brightly: Celebrating Jerry Garcia's 70th Birthday". The film also includes interviews with some of the performers, other musicians, and members of the Grateful Dead extended family. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2013.
Scott Metzger is an American guitarist. His work touches on many styles including psychedelic rock, soul, country, jazz, and surf rock. His collaborations with other artists include Phil Lesh, John Scofield, Branford Marsalis, John Medeski, Nels Cline, Joe Russo, John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, Warren Haynes, Shooter Jennings, LaLa Brooks of The Crystals, Trixie Whitley, Nicole Atkins, Anders Osborne, Dean Ween, Russ Lawton, Ray Paczkowski Mark Rechler's Circus Mind, Circles Around the Sun, the Stanton Moore trio, and Umphrey's McGee. Metzger is a full-time member of Joe Russo's Almost Dead since its inception in 2013; he also continues to play with other artists.