Million Dollar Bash: The History & Music of The Band

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of Bob Dylan & The Band’s landmark Basement Tapes, and – in turn – the latter’s 40th anniversary, impresario Michael Gaiman stages Million Dollar Bash. Gaiman is the longtime manager of Jefferson Starship, a former Grateful Dead agent, and the individual responsible for creating Jazz is Dead, Blue Floyd, this year’s Summer of Love, 40th Anniversary Tour as well as The Band’s 1983 reunion tour.

Most of The Basement Tapes was recorded in the basement of a house shared by Bob Dylan and The Band (formerly The Hawks). As Dylan recovered from a near-fatal motorcycle accident during 1967, he called on The Band to help him experiment with themes of traditional folk music and Americana. These explorations, and their possible links with the earlier Anthology of American Folk Music, are explored in Invisible Republic by author Greil Marcus.

The sessions laid the foundation both for the approach of Dylan’s 1967 album John Wesley Harding and for the Band finding their own voice on 1968’s Music From Big Pink. The Dylan LP, a critically-acclaimed departure from the surrealist rock and roll he had recently pioneered on his milestone trio of albums from 1965 and 1966, was as much of a shock to his fans as were those records to his earlier folk audience. Both it and Music From Big Pink would greatly influence the turn, by many contemporary popular musicians, away from the psychedelic music that reached its height in 1967, toward an embrace of country-influenced folk styles.

In addition to the Basement Tapes material, the repertoire of The Hawks and The Band’s earliest recordings will be explored by an all-star cast featuring Jimmy Vivino and Rich Pagano from The Fab Faux (and their Prisoners of 2nd Ave. band), members of The New Riders of the Purple Sage, Prof. Louie & The Crowmatix with Aaron Hurwitz – who produced The Band’s three 1990s recordings – plus special guests.

Legendary Dylan/Band photographer Elliott Landy will showcase a special exhibition of his work from that halcyon period as a background to the theatrical narration that will tie the music together.

Additional Ticket Information:

VIP Tickets include soundcheck access (4:30pm – 5:30pm), reserved booth seats on the floor, and a show poster.