First published in  Lonely Goat Print Magazine Volume II - #4

Transcendental Journey: The Zen Tricksters
by Uncle Country (April, 1999)

a plethora of grateful dead cover bands have arisen since the passing of that band's standard-bearing leader, jerry garcia (r.i.p.), yet one band that has been pursuing their labor of love for the "right" reasons since the late seventies, in one form or another, is the band known now as "the zen tricksters." the tricksters are the most amazing dead band around today, bar none; but to stop there would be a musical injustice and understatement of the "nth" degree! their original material stands firmly on its own "eight" feet! the first cd that the band released, titled "the holy fool," has firmly established this quartet as an autonomous presence for nearly three years now. their commitment to "paying their dues" by traveling throughout the continent to increase their audience base has been paying a multitude of dividends, much to the regret of their faithful new york (their home base) fans; and their soon-to-be released cd, entitled "a love surreal" will no doubt send these musicians to the next level. look for it around may at the band's website, http://zentricksters.com ! the primary role of the band in the dead community prior to garcia's death was to provide their stylings when the grateful dead weren't on tour in a particular region of the united states; since jerry's passing, they have answered the call of "serious" deadheads to provide an atmosphere for gathering and recapturing the essence of the band/audience phenomenon that was the dead experience. "in all humility, a lot of people come up to us and are really moved by our ability to get to the core of the (dead's) music," jeff mattson, founder and guitar/vocalist for the band explains. "i guess at our best, we're able to give people a sense of what they felt when they went to a show. of course, we want to be acknowledged not just as a cover band, but also as a living, breathing band in our own right. our original music is very much a part of what we do, and i think that is the future. there aren't going to be any new dead songs." the band's seemingly telepathic communication keeps the music fresh; keyboardist rob barraco's vocals are unique and his dragonfly precision is constantly providing ear-ecstatic nuance to the solid rhythms laid down by klyph black on bass and joe chirco on drums. black, a guitarist supreme turned bass player extraordinaire is capable of lesh-like crescendoes and also provides solid, bluesy vocal stylings. joe chirco is nothing less than a machine; constantly driving the beat and throwing in drum riffs that are often missing in other bands; and the three-part harmonies clearly distinguish these cats from most of their peers! if you are wondering "who's got jam?" you need look no "furthur!" it must be jam, 'cause jelly don't shake like that! their technical proficiency and symbiosis has matured to where the band often goes from dead tune to original back to dead tune without missing a beat. the driving force within the band is jeff mattson. he attended his first show in '73 and was hooked for life! he has had many bands since then, the most noted of which was "the volunteers" which evolved into the current tricksters. the music has been his labor of love now for over two decades, so when you think of the tricksters remember that this band is all about the process, just as the dead were; it's all about the music to jeff, not the money. he recently confessed that to him people who don't love music are an enigma! "if they listen to it at all it's just wallpaper; they're sort of fed the taste they're supposed to have by the predominant culture." 'tis a shame, but true! for mattson though, "music is (my) life." for those of you who have witnessed him perform, you know that he completely immerses himself within the music, seemingly going into a trance-like state that produces some of the most imaginative guitar work on this planet; the aliens groove on him, i'm convinced, because his techniques border on the other-worldly at times! intense, focused, and "deadicated," he is truly true to his muse; and it shouldn't be any other way! if you haven't seen the zen tricksters and you are a deadhead, do yourself and your friends a favor; call them, gather them up, and go remember what it was like to let "the good times roll" and the show was life!

uncle country has been writing since the late '60s and has been published in every decade since. He was a contributing writer to Unbroken Chain Magazine. Oh yeah! He likes to write without the capitalization so that's why this looks a little different.