I can't praise this film enough. Gillian Grisman, the director, had a penchant for making home movies which often happened to include Jerry Garcia and David Grisman working together on tasteful, emotionally performed acoustic music which included old south traditionals, and folk music from around the world, as well as some originals. Jerry and David enjoyed a friendship and deep musical connection that stretched out over 30 years. It's informal, most of the footage taken without any projects in mind, around the studio in the basement of Grisman's house, with his family around (the dog pops in and out of shots), and much footage taken from performances at Sweetwater and the Warfield in the early 90s, with Joe Craven and Jim Kerwin. There's interviews with Peter Rowan and Vassar Clements from Old And In The Way (Garcia and Grisman's first project together, 1973). It's also got still photos reaching back to 1961 of Grisman and Garcia, who met at a Bill Monroe concert at Sunset Park in 1964, and excerpts of an audio interview Jerry did for Guitar Magazine in 1991. The film also shows Jerry in a very comfortable setting, something that the stage of Grateful Dead shows didn't necessarily afford him. It's nice to see him performing without any pressure of being the patriarch of the deadheads, simply being part of a band, having a good time with some friends, playing with great dynamics with a group of very talented musicians. (Joe Craven, how many instruments, exactly, do you play? Extraordinary.) If you're a fan of acoustic music, you really ought to check out this movie - it's very satisfying.
