Jazz Mafia's Grateful Brass Jerry Garcia Birthday Celebration

Grateful Brass reimagines the iconic music of the Grateful Dead with an instrumentation of brass, drums and vocals (no guitar!). The music digs deep into the Grateful Dead discography with creative re-imaginations infused with the ebullient spirit of New Orleans Second Line, trance-like grooves of Afrobeat, brass-driven energy of Balkan music, and energetic Afro-Cuban polyrhythms, all sitting on top of a heavy foundation of funk.

Grateful Brass is led by Adam Theis who is a current member of The Wolf Pack with Bob Weir & Wolf Bros and whose arrangements are featured in their live shows, as well as two Bob Weir albums released in 2022 (“Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros: Live in Colorado” and “Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros: Live in Colorado Vol. 2”).

Some of the finest musicians on the West Coast have joined Theis in creating this newest offshoot of the Bay Area music collective Jazz Mafia; many who have long collaborated with other artists in the Grateful Dead community like Mickey Hart, Joe Russo's Ain't Dead Yet, Peter Rowan, Reed Mathis, Jackie Greene, and Cold Blood.

Grateful Brass embraces the challenge of carrying on a 50+ year tradition of imagination, creativity, and groovy improvisatory adventures. This loving homage will make you fall in love with Grateful Dead's music all over again, or for the first time.

Theis is a bandleader/composer/producer based in San Francisco who plays trombone, bass, trumpet, tuba and keyboards. He has been an active member of the San Francisco Bay Area music scene for the past 15-plus years. Growing up in Sebastopol, he helped create jazz music awareness in the North Bay while leading many successful bands in his college years.

Jazz Mafia is a wrecking crew of musicians, composers, and producers whose music, media, and curated experiences shape tastes and elevate the community.

After studying with Mel Graves, Jon English, Wayne Wallace and graduating from Sonoma State University with a degree in jazz composition and performance Theis hit the road with some of the world’s best Ska bands; The Skatalites (1998/1999), Let’s Go Bowling (1998/1999), and The Specials (2001).

While performing with these well-established acts, his main concentration was always on forming his own groups. In 2000, Adam Theis co-founded Jazz Mafia; an eclectic artist collective of some of the most forward-thinking and accomplished players of Electro, Hip-Hop, World, Classical, and of course, Jazz. As Jazz Mafia’s director, Adam has assembled over 100 different live projects over the past 17 years, and led/co-led dozens of acclaimed bands. As a collection of the Bay Area's most talented and prolific musicians, singers, and MC's, the Jazz Mafia has become the quintessential San Francisco sound which now consists of Realistic Orchestra, The Shotgun Wedding Quintet, The Jazz Mafia Symphony, Jazz Mafia String Quartet, Adam Theis & Subharmonic and many other projects.

Theis has performed with hundreds of the most well-respected Bay Area musicians and national acts including: Carlos Santana, Bobby McFerrin, Lyrics Born, KRS One, Bernard Purdie, Ruben Wilson, Clyde Stubblefield, Roy Ayers, Liz Phair, Booker T. Jones, Benny Maupin (Headhunters, Miles Davis), Stanton Moore and Mickey Hart.