The Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir paid tribute to his band mate Phil Lesh following the death of the bassist Friday.
On social media, the guitarist credited Lesh with introducing him to much of the music that would inform his own playing style, as well as influence the Dead’s improvisational music.
“At the age of seventeen, I listened to the John Coltrane Quartet, focusing on McCoy Tyner’s work, feeding Coltrane harmonic and rhythmic ideas to springboard off of – and I developed an approach to guitar playing based off of it. This happened because Phil turned me on to the Coltrane Quartet,” Weir wrote on social media.
“Early on, he also introduced me (and us) to the wonders of modern classical music, with its textures and developments, which we soon tried our hands at incorporating into what we had to offer.”
Weir continued, “Concurrent with all this was the ongoing conversation about the things (ideas) we present outside of music, and the effect it would have in shaping the world around us – let’s just say Phil wasn’t particularly averse to ruffling a few feathers. We had our differences, of course, but it’s not platitudinous to say that that only made our work together more meaningful. Our conversation and interaction will last, at very least, ‘til the end of my days.”
Lesh and Weir shared the stage together for nearly 50 years, from the band’s short stint at the Warlocks to their decades-long run as the Grateful Dead to post-Dead acts like The Other Ones and Furthur to the final “Fare Thee Well” shows in 2015.
“The Muse gives us the people and tools to work with. Where we go with that work emerges from somewhere between our intuition and her inspiration. It’s a process always cloaked deep in Mystery, and at its best, the Mystery is forever lasting after its rendering,” Weir added.
“Meanwhile, given that death is the last and best reward for a life *well and fully lived*, I rejoice in his liberation…”
The band’s surviving members — Weir, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann — added of Lesh in a separate statement, “Today we lost a brother… Phil Lesh was irreplaceable. In one note from the Phil Zone, you could hear and feel the world being born. His bass flowed like a river would flow. It went where the muse took it. He was an explorer of inner and outer space who just happened to play bass. He was a circumnavigator of formerly unknown musical worlds. And more.”