Live music lovers in the North Bay Area know Mill Valley’s Sweetwater Music Hall as a hotbed for unexpected collaborations and special one-off celebratory performances. Not surprising considering the primary investors behind the intimate café/venue in the music savvy Marin County town are rock ‘n’ roll investors (Bob Weir and Sammy Hagar namely) bringing in one-of-a-kind collaborations.

Two progressive bluegrass titans shared a co-billing last weekend at The UC Theatre in Berkeley, California. Infamous Stringdusters hosted a diverse two-night run beginning last Thursday with Keller Williams and Grateful Gospel. Fans that evening were treated to an array of Grateful Dead classics augmented by a joint group of Keller and the Dusters.

In their forth outstanding gig at San Rafael’s Terrapin Crossroads this year, The Rock Collection brought an evening of originals, and beloved covers dissimilar to anything fans had seen of them yet. Any act under the jam band umbrella has to keep their shows diverse night to night, but what makes The Rock Collection standalone is the sheer combination of talent and background that allows the music to take off different directions on any given night.

One of the most anticipated jazz events of 2017 was The Meeting of The Spirits tour, a co-billing of celebrated fusion icon John McLaughlin & The 4th Dimension with the astoundingly diverse Jimmy Herring and The Invisible Whip. Though the two guitarists/bandleaders spawned from different generations and backgrounds, their affinity for bringing exploratory styles including Indian Classical Music, Spanish guitar, funk, and blues, are an ever-bonding force.

While the multi-talented Karl Denson has been known to structure his Tiny Universe performances as an opportunity to pay homage to an impressively diverse array of artists, nothing prepared his devoted fans for the announcement of an Allman Brothers Band tribute. When the boisterous bandleader isn’t on the road with the Rolling Stones as their full-time saxophonist, or continually collaborating with Phil Lesh & Friends, he’s primarily focused on his accomplished solo-career.

Jam Veteran Melvin Seals is generally acknowledged as the keeper of the flame for continuing the music of Jerry Garcia Band. The organist/keyboardist met Garcia thru his friend Merl Saunders in the early 1980s. Garcia was struck not only by Seals sheer talent and soul but that he was separate from the whole Grateful Dead world. In fact, as a man of the church, he was only marginally familiar with the Dead and Garcia.

Just in time for Record Store Day on November 22nd, a truly under-sung live masterpiece is to be re-released. Many fans know of Jerry Garcia & Howard Wales 1970 memorizing fusion studio album Hooteroll?, which was notable (aside from the inspired flowing free-jazz) as Garcia’s first studio recording outside of the Grateful Dead since the band’s inception. Indeed Garcia saw something remarkable about Wales playing.

Disreputable Few is four-session players with unique musical voice and distinct backgrounds coming together to play psychedelic blues-rock of its own spirit.

The Newgrass style had come quite a way since the days when John Hartford and New Grass Revival began deviating from the technique and approach that had defined the bluegrass previously. The original bluegrass players such as Ralph Stanley, Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs were indeed innovators. As music is a reflection of times and the outlook of those playing, the late 1960s birthed ambitious and talented players who deviated from the rules. Still, their admiration and respect for the country greats before them was foundational.

Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain has done far more for the craft than any predecessor of the instrument. Hussain crossed over into experimental Western music with groups like Shakti (alongside John McLaughlin and L. Shankar) and with Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart in the classic World percussion releases Rolling Thunder, Diga and later Planet Drum. Still nothing has prepared followers of Hussain’s illustrious career for his marvelous group Cross Currents.