Electric Beethoven

After cutting his teeth in Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey and Tea Leaf Green, bassist extraordinaire Reed Mathis established himself in the Grateful Dead world with membership in Billy & The Kids, The Rhythm Devils, Mickey Hart Band, Steve Kimock Band and the Golden Gate Wingmen. But Mathis’ first love was always Ludwig van Beethoven. With his new Electric Beethoven project, Mathis did the unthinkable and fused all of his worlds together, bringing old world masterpieces by Beethoven to today’s premiere musical improvisers — an elite class of live performers who have individually made names for themselves in every genre except classical: jazz, funk, folk, blues, and jam rock. The result goes far beyond genre and brings this music back to the emotional realm that Beethoven was composing from when he initially brought these two symphonies to life.  It’s music of the moment, even if that moment has been happening for more than 200 years.