Christmas Jam gets funky once again

Here’s part of the run-down on this past weekend’s Warren Haynes Christmas Jam from jambands.com. This is part of the review of Saturday night’s show at the Asheville Civic Center.

The Christmas Jam’s funk ensemble reassembled for a two-part performance. The first part of the set highlighted the musicians’ individual talents and included an appearance by DJ Logic. Herring also returned for a take on the New Orleans anthem “Fire on the Bayou.” The second part of the set found the musicians backing William Bell. The set read like a STAX and soul greatest hits list: a take on “Hard to Handle” that also featured Audley Freed, a version of “Everyday is a Holiday” with both Freed and Haynes and an all-star jam based around his original “Born Under a Bad Sign” that drew in Freed, Haynes and Whitford, among other song highlights. As Haynes mentioned in a recent Jambands.com interview, Whitford also played “Born Under a Bad Sign” with Gov’t Mule a few years ago.

Though Bell’s set wrapped up the super jam portion of the evening, a number of artists collaborated throughout the rest of the night. During Ani DiFranco’s show, Nigel Hall sang on a version of “Fuel,” Haynes and Austin emerged for “Which Side Are You On” and no less than Haynes, Austin, Porter, Hall, Krasno, Deitch and the Christmas Jam horns helped the singer/songwriter close her set with a big band version of “Overlap.” Likewise, moe. opened its set by bringing out DJ Logic for “Captain America,” a song he recorded with the band in the studio for the album Dither. Later in the night, Herring also played guitar on “Happy Hour Hero.” In-between, the band offered “Tailspin,” “Together at Xmas” and “Zed Naught Z.” “George” brought the set to a close.

Counting Crows also got into the collaborative spirit, inviting Haynes out for a second version of “Rain King” that moved into a cover of the Beatles’ “With a Little Help From the My Friends” that also featured Austin. Haynes also sat in with the group on a set-closing sing-along based around Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land.” Other highlights included a set-opening “Round Here” and a medley of songs from the Beatles’ Abbey Road.

Finally, Gov’t Mule took the stage early Sunday morning for Christmas Jam’s final set. The group picked up where it left off the night before with “Broke Down on the Brazos.” The quartet also offered “Steppin Lightly,” “Railroad Boy” and “Frozen Fear,” before Herring and Holloway took the stage for “Devil Likes It Slow.” Herring remained onstage for a version of Haynes’ Jerry Garcia tribute “Patchwork Quilt,” a song the two musicians recorded for Phil Lesh & Friends’ studio album. The cover-theme continued as Jackie Greene emerged for a cover of Garcia’s “Sugaree” that featured Herring and a take on the Beatles’ “Don’t Let Me Down.” Around 3 AM, Whitford returned to play with the band one last time on “Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home” and “Train Kept A Rolling.” An all-star version of “I Shall Be Released,” featuring all the musicians who remained in the house, brought the night to a close well after 3:30 AM.