Compared to the last waiting period for a Christmas Jam release—the Vol. 2 CD, which captured the 2001 Jam, finally arrived almost two years after reviewer copies were sent around and an original release date was announced—this one has dropped pretty fast. If you were there, you remember the usual glut of marquee guests and off-the-rails sit ins, Warren falling short of winning the Warren Haynes Award for sit-in ubiquity to Branford “I played With Almost Everyone” Marsalis, a beguiling appearance from Dave Matthews – making his first ever Xmas Jam appearance and to date arguably the Jam’s most high-profile guest (sorry, Frampton, and no disrespect, Mr. Stanley), a surprise appearance from former “American Idol” victor Taylor Hicks to blow some histrionic harp, and a campfire-style pileup on I Shall Be Released to close a long, lingering night.
The main disc has 21 tracks, which should already tell you there are a few things excluded; for all the gold that’s here. Every fan has his “but what abouts,” and mine are a ripping Sco-Mule featuring Brendan Bayliss from the Mule set, anything from the Kevn Kinney opening set, Col. Bruce Hampton making his annual one-song appearance during the John Popper Project set, and a pastoral Long Black Veil during Matthews’ solo joint, gently colored by Haynes and Mickey Raphael. But how do you complain about such pristine pulls as Streamline —Marty Stuart is such a hoot. Or a heated Fortunate Son from the New Orleans Social Club that featured both Haynes and Hicks. Or that balls-out Leaving Trunk, which brought the first-ever live collaboration between Gov’t Mule and Taj Mahal?
It’s all here, almost all of it smokes, and since you already know this kind of shit happens on a regular basis at the Christmas Jam every December, maybe you’re already hustling to Priceline or Kayak to check Asheville flights for Dec. 12-13, the Jam’s 20th Anniversary. (Dude, make the journey. It’s expensive, but it’s for charity, and you do get that measure of once-in-a-lifetime-ness your jaded, toured-out lifestyle’s been missing for some time.)
There are some nice bonus tracks—Mule or Haynes bonuses, like most Grateful Dead vault releases, are always more gems on top of gems and rarely feel like filler—including, oddly, the I Shall Be Released closer (why isn’t it in the main track listing?) The New Orleans Social Club’s Walkin’ to New Orleans jam session—a three-way harmonica battle between Hicks, Raphael and John Popper in the middle of it—is worth 10-minutes of your undivided, too. So go, friends.
Enjoy. Savor.
