The Allman Brothers Band continued their 11-show residency at the Beacon Theatre in New York City on Wednesday night. In line with what we reported, there were plenty of guests who sat in with the band at various points in the show.

[All Photos by Dino Perrucci]

For the first set, the Allmans mixed classics such as Midnight Rider and Good Clean Fun with the second-ever rendition of the Lesh/Haynes original Spots of Time. Towards the end of the set The Juke Horns emerged for a cover of It Makes No Difference, which was first played by the ABB during last year’s March Madness run. The horns stuck around for Don’t Keep Me Wondering and Same Thing. Blues Traveler harmonica wiz John Popper also helped out on the opening set-closing Same Thing.

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A yearly tradition will continue for the 24th time this December when Warren Haynes hosts another Christmas Jam in Asheville, North Carolina on December 15th. The multi-band event will take place at The U.S. Cellular Center Asheville (formerly The Asheville Civic Center) with all net proceeds from the concert and all Xmas Jam weekend event set to benefit Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity. The initial lineup has been announced and features a few Xmas Jam newcomers as well as some vets.

Recently reunited jam act The String Cheese Incident will make their first Xmas Jam appearance nine years after SCI mandolin player Michael Kang made his Xmas Jam debut in 2003. Superstar singer Sheryl Crow will also make her Xmas Jam debut. Haynes will appear with his Warren Haynes Band outfit and with Blind Boys of Alabama. Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue will bring the funk to the event, while Mike Barnes, Kevn Kinney and Anders Osborne are aboard as the first special guests to be announced.

A few different VIP packages are available and expected to sell out. A pre-sale will be available through Christmas Jam Ticketing starting on Thursday, October 11th at Noon ET and will run until Friday, October 12th at 5PM ET or until the allotment sells out if that happens before that time. A public on-sale will start at Noon ET on Friday, October 19th via Ticketmaster & The Civic Center Box Office.

Chapel Hill’s Memorial Hall practically quaked with spiritual energy during the recent Down By The Riverside tour stop. Featuring two of America’s musical treasures, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band and The Blind Boys of Alabama, the tour was a showcase of New Orleans music and also a broader tribute to America’s disappearing roots music legacy. The tour concluded on a busy, chilly night in one of the state’s most appropriate venues, and the reverent audience became part of the show on more than one occasion.

Preservation Hall performed in missing man formation due to the unfortunate health issues of longtime bassist Walter Payton. Always the consummate professionals, the septet delivered an engaging, virtuosic performance with the expected perfection and vibrancy. There’s been a changing of the guard and an injection of new talent into the rugged old jazz machine, though the incestuous NOLA music scene tends to keep a lot of last names in place. Director Ben Jaffe, who took over the position from his father, leads a diverse and seasoned group whose ages range from mid-30′s to somewhere in the realm of 70.

Bonded by a tensile musical education that can only be achieved by coming up in New Orleans, the band surged through over an hour of music, touching on many of the city’s most beloved sounds. The classic, Dixieland-ish New Orleans sound dominated the set, but a few of their selections surprised me. I don’t remember their sets including as many be-bop, blues and boogie excursions when I saw them last, but that was ten years ago. Even institutions as staunch as PHJB evolve over time, and they seem to have found fertile, elusive middle ground between the hundred-year-old jazz traditions and more modern ideas – provided your idea of “modern” includes the 1960′s. READ ON for more from Bryan on this fantastic show…