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Fresh off of diva Bette Midler's North American tour, Ashland-based guitar player Jeff Pevar is back on the road with Jazz Is Dead, an inventive jazz ensemble that interprets classic Grateful Dead music, and a new album, "Grateful Jazz."{br class="hardreturn" /} "We honor the Dead's compositions with new life," Pevar says from behind the wheel somewhere in the Midwest. "We change it up our own way, versus being a tribute band and trying to sound like them."{br class="hardreturn" /} After an 10-year hiatus, Pevar, bassist Alphonso Johnson and drummer Rod Morgenstein reform Jazz Is Dead with one-time Grateful Dead keyboard player Tom Constanten and Jefferson Starship keyboardist Chris Smith this summer to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Dead. The group kicked off a summer tour on Jerry Garcia's birthday, Aug. 1.{br class="hardreturn" /} The original Jazz Is Dead was created by impresario Michael Gaiman. It formed in 1998 and featured Johnson, Jimmy Herring on guitar, T Lavitz on keys and Billy Cobham on drums. The group toured with various lineups of musicians until 2005.{br class="hardreturn" /} Pevar was invited to join Jazz Is Dead after his tenure in 2000 as a guitar player with Phil Lesh & Friends — a gig that demanded Pevar learn 70 Grateful Dead songs. It was an experience he would later call "a crash course in American history."{br class="hardreturn" /} "We had a run of six dates at the Beacon Theatre in New York City," he says. "Phil preferred not to repeat songs because a lot of fans would go to all of the shows. It was a great way to learn an immense amount of music."{br class="hardreturn" /} Shortly after Lesh's gig ended, Pevar got the call from Gaiman about joining Jazz Is Dead. He'd performed with guitar players Robben Ford, John Scofield and Herring throughout Lesh's tour, but his jaw dropped when Gaiman told him who the musicians would be in Jazz Is Dead.{br class="hardreturn" /} "Morgenstein and Lavitz were from a band called the Dixie Dregs, and I was a big fan," he says. "I was familiar with the music these guys played. I thought some of the stuff was above my head, so I got on the arrangements. I wanted to know what direction the music was going, and I didn't want it to be too difficult for me to play.{br class="hardreturn" /} "I also wanted to be sure we were playing music palatable to Dead fans. So much of that iconic music is melody-driven, I didn't want it to be too fusion-like for the fans or for the guitar player who didn't know a million notes, meaning me. I contacted Lavitz and Morgenstein, and we only had a couple of days slated for rehearsal. I got very busy and proactive with the arrangements."{br class="hardreturn" /} After a few of the early tours, Pevar took Morgenstein, Lavitz and bassist Dave Livolsi into a recording studio in Hartford, Conn., and recorded live arrangements of Grateful Dead music that he had come up with.{br class="hardreturn" /} "I started this record 11 years ago, around the time I was touring with Crosby, Stills and Nash," Pevar says. "During that time I brought in a few ringers — violinist Jerry Goodman who plays with Mahavishnu Orchestra — but the project sat over the last couple of years."{br class="hardreturn" /} The call from Gaiman about a reunion tour to celebrate the Grateful Dead came in on the heels of Midler's tour, and Pevar knew he had to finish the album. The timing was perfect because of the heightened awareness and appreciation of the Dead's music, the band's 50th anniversary and its final concerts.{br class="hardreturn" /} "Working on Midler's tour made me 'liquid' enough to hire Steve Postell, a longtime friend and collaborator based in L.A., to help me mix the album," Pevar says. "We sent mixes back and forth to each other and made tweaks and adjustments, then it was mastered by Jim Chapdelaine, who is mastering Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi's new album."{br class="hardreturn" /} The CDs arrived the day before our first show on Aug. 2 at San Juan Capistrano. The first copy of 'Grateful Jazz' was actually opened on Garcia's birthday.{br class="hardreturn" /} "Very interesting how it all came about," he says. "The bittersweet part of the story is that Lavitz passed away five years ago. So this is a swan song to his recorded work and a tribute to what amazing talent he was.{br class="hardreturn" /} "It feels I've completed something I started so many years ago," Pevar adds. "The way it happened, interestingly enough, is rather than taking too long, it's the perfect time for the album to come out."{br class="hardreturn" /} Pevar's fiancee, Inger Jorgensen, created the art for the CD's cover. The album, along with Jazz Is Dead's tour dates, is available at www.pevar.com. A live show is set for Saturday, Sept. 5, at the Sausalito Arts Festival, also featuring San Francisco bands Jefferson Starship and Quicksilver Messenger Service.{br class="hardreturn" /}