The "Grateful Dead" in Concert
Essays on Live Improvisation

Offers an analysis of the improvisational character of Grateful Dead music and its impact on appreciative fans. This book features 20 essays that capture distinct facets of the Grateful Dead phenomenon from a broad range of scholarly angles: musicology and ethnomusicology; Continental and postmodern philosophies; and, sociology.

This book of 20 original, scholarly essays and seven reflective writings offers a spirited analysis of the unique improvisational character of Grateful Dead music and its impact on appreciative fans. The essays capture distinct facets of the Grateful Dead phenomenon from a broad range of scholarly angles: musicology and ethnomusicology; Continental and postmodern philosophies; sociology; socio-political and cultural anthropology; communication theory and online communities; and, organizational practices in business. The band's trademark synergizing focus is discussed as a function of complex musical improvisation interlaced with the band members' collective assimilation of an impressive range of marginal musical forms and lyrical traditions. These facets are shown to produce a vibrant Deadhead experience, resulting in community influences still morphing in new directions 45 years after the band's initial impact.