Jeff Chimenti

Jeff Chimenti (born October 21, 1968) is an American keyboardist, best known for his ongoing work with Bob Weir & RatDog. He is also known for his membership in the post-Grateful Dead bands The Dead, Furthur and Dead & Company.

Early Life and Music Career

A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Chimenti began playing piano when he was four and he studied formally from the age of seven to around the time he finished high school. Once he graduated from high school, he began playing in bands around the Bay area. He played in local jazz bands as well as Les Claypool's Frog Brigade; he's also played back-up for pop acts such as En Vogue.

He was playing in Dave Ellis's jazz quartet when Ellis was hired to play saxophone in Bob Weir & RatDog. Ellis informed him that RatDog was also looking for a new keyboardist. Chimenti was hired and played his first show 28 May 1997. Chimenti has been a member of RatDog ever since and has occasionally performed with Phil Lesh and Friends. While performing, he commonly uses Brent Mydland's Hammond B3 organ.

Steve Kimock

Steve Kimock (born October 5, 1955) is an American rock musician and guitarist.

In San Francisco and with Zero

Kimock was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States. In the mid 1970s, Kimock moved from Pennsylvania to the San Francisco Bay Area, to play guitar with the folk-rock group The Goodman Brothers. In 1979, after a stint with Martin Fierro in the salsa band the Underdogs, Kimock joined the Heart of Gold Band featuring Keith and Donna Godchaux plus their drummer Greg Anton.

In 1984, along with Anton, and John Cipollina formerly of Quicksilver Messenger Service, Kimock co-founded the psychedelic rock ensemble Zero, through which he became known nationally. With the addition of Judge Murphy in 1991, Zero departed from their largely instrumental format and recorded Chance in a Million, their most successful album to date, featuring songs penned by Grateful Dead lyricist, Robert Hunter. Zero continued to tour and release records until 2000. Keeping with their improvisational theme, various lineups included many notable musicians such as Chip Roland, Melvin Seals, Liam Hanrahan, Pete Sears, Bobby Vega, Nicky Hopkins and Vince Welnick.

Jeff

Jeff is a short form of the English given name Jeffrey, which derives from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Jeff is especially used in the US and Canada.

Music

Golden Gate

The Golden Gate is the North American strait that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by the Golden Gate Bridge.

Geology

During the last Ice Age, when sea level was several hundred feet lower, the waters of the glacier-fed Sacramento River and the San Joaquin River scoured a deep channel through the bedrock on their way to the ocean. The strait is well known today for its depth and powerful tidal currents from the Pacific Ocean. Many small whirlpools and eddies can form in its waters. With its strong currents, rocky reefs and fog, the Golden Gate is the site of over 100 shipwrecks.

Climate

The Golden Gate is often shrouded in fog, especially during the summer. Heat generated in the California Central Valley causes air there to rise, creating a low pressure area that pulls in cool, moist air from over the Pacific Ocean. The Golden Gate forms the largest break in the hills of the California Coast Range, allowing a persistent, dense stream of fog to enter the bay there.

Mountain Jam

"Mountain Jam" is an improvised instrumental jam by The Allman Brothers Band. The song's first known recording is on May 4, 1969 at Macon Central Park. "Mountain Jam" was originally released on the 1972 Eat a Peach album, as recorded at the Fillmore East concert hall, in March 1971. That is the rendition that is best known.

Other live recordings have been released on the albums Fillmore East, February 1970, Live at Ludlow Garage: 1970, Live at the Atlanta International Pop Festival: July 3 & 5, 1970, The Fillmore Concerts, and deluxe edition of At Fillmore East (1971). Notably, Live at the Atlanta International Pop Festival: July 3 & 5, 1970 contains two recordings of the song (the second of which features guest musicians Johnny Winter on slide guitar, and Thom Doucette on harmonica). In fact it makes its first appearance at the end of 1971's At Fillmore East when its first notes are heard and then faded out when it is started immediately out of "Whipping Post".

Origin and influences