Greg Allman performs with the Allman Brothers Band at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans, Sunday, April 25, 2010. Greg Allman and two other executives on a film project were indicted, Thursday, July 3, 2014, on felony charges stemming from a fatal crash in which a freight train plowed into the film’s crew in southeast Georgia. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) The Allman Brothers Band ceased to be in December, but Riverbend Festival organizers think they've booked the next best thing.
The Gregg Allman Band will headline the festival June 12 on the main Coca-Cola Stage. On the same night, Jaimoe's Jasssz Band, featuring former Allman Brothers drummer Jai Johanny Johanson -- better known as Jaimoe -- will play on the Bud Light Stage. Farther up on Riverfront Parkway, former Allman Brothers guitarist Jack Pearson will perform on the Unum Stage with Nashville's Jonell Mosser.
Might the three former bandmates end up on stage together before the night is through?
"I feel fairly certain we might see a little jam session on the Coke Stage later that night," says Riverbend talent and production coordinator Joe "Dixie" Fuller. "I know I'm putting together another drum kit on the Coke Stage."
The Allman Brothers Band performed at Riverbend in 2006 during one of the most memorable shows in recent memory.
"We couldn't get the brothers, but with the supporting acts on other stages and the chance of getting them together for a jam, we thought this was the next best thing because we had such a good time with the Allman Brothers last time," Fuller says.
Fans learned of the planned breakup of the Allman Brothers Band a year ago when guitarists Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes simultaneously announced they would be leaving to devote themselves to their own projects. Contractual obligations carried the band into December.
Allman has performed as a solo act and with his own bands since as early as 1973. The current Gregg Allman Band features the legendary singer/songwriter/keyboard player along with Scott Sharrard on guitar, Peter Levin on keys, Steve Potts on drums, Marc Quinones on percussion (also an Allman Brothers alum), Ron Johnson on bass, Jay Collins on horns, Art Edmaiston and Marc Franklin on horns.
Johanson, known simply as Jaimoe, was a founding member of the Allman Brothers as a drummer and percussionist. Jaimoe's Jasssz Band features Jaimoe on drums, Junior Mack on guitar and vocals, Dave Stoltz on bass, Bruce Katz on keyboards, Paul Lieberman on sax, flute, and piccolo, Kris Jensen on sax and Reggie Pittman on trumpet.
Pearson is a veteran guitarist who has worked with Delbert McClinton, Wet Willie's Jimmy Hall and several others, as well as a solo performer. He was asked by Haynes to sub for former Allman Brothers guitarist Dickey Betts on an Allman Brothers tour in 1989 and later joined the band as a member from 1997 to 1999. He also toured with Allman as part of Gregg Allman & Friends in the early '90s. He now performs semi-regularly with blues singer Mosser, whose resume includes performing with everyone from Etta James to Vince Gill to Bruce Cockburn.
Other previously announced acts at Riverbend, which runs June 5-13, include Merle Haggard, Sam Hunt and Leon Russell on June 7. Martina McBride on June 6 and Hunter Hayes and Little River Band, both on June 11.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.