Dead Set is the seventh live album (eighteenth overall) by the Grateful Dead. It was released in August 1981 on Arista. The album contains live material recorded between September and October 1980 at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco and Radio City Music Hall in New York. Original CD pressings omitted the track "Space" so the entire album could fit on one CD. However, "Space" was included when the album was later rereleased as part of the 2004 Beyond Description box set, as well as on one CD in 2006. The 2006 release also included a bonus CD of live material.
This Peter Green-led edition of the Mac isn't just an important transition between their initial blues-based incarnation and the mega-pop band they became, it's also their most vital, exciting version…
Paris was the place to be before and after WWII, and Jazz in Paris captures some of those immortal moments such as Django's Blues. This is a wonderful introdution to the great guitarist as he plays some classic pieces such as Septermber Song, Brazil and Blues Primitif. The disc is divided into two performances at the Le Quintette de Hot Club in 1947, with his brother Joseph joining him on the second set on rhythm guitar. The series is beautifully packaged and you will love checking out the many other titles such as Django and Company, which includes Stephane Grappelli.
Three overlapping groups are heard from here, and they revisit the repertoire of the McKenzie & Condon's Chicagoans of 1927 (playing new versions of the four songs originally recorded) and Bud Freeman's 1939-1940 Summa Cum Laude Orchestra. The two septets and the octet feature such immortal Condonites as tenor saxophonist Bud Freeman; Jimmy McPartland and Billy Butterfield on trumpets; trombonists Tyree Glenn and Jack Teagarden (who also takes some vocals); clarinetists Pee Wee Russell and Peanuts Hucko; pianists Gene Schroeder and Dick Cary; rhythm guitarist Al Casamenti (but surprisingly no Eddie Condon); bassists Milt Hinton, Al Hall, and Leonard Gaskin; and drummer George Wettling. The veterans were all still in prime form at the time, and they sound quite inspired.