A long tradition (begun in the 20th century), Ashkenaz’s Grateful Dead night continues to turn new corners and present surprises, always rooted in the spirit of the Dead and its aesthetic of jamming to achieve communal enlightenment through dancing. For the first hour Ashkenaz tunes in to David Gans’ KPFA-FM radio broadcast of his weekly “Dead to the World” and pipes in rare live Dead recordings for dancing, followed at 9 pm by Stu Allen & Mars Hotel, live onstage!

After performing at Dead Nights in recent years, Stu Allen now hosts the night, appearing twice this month (also on Jan. 25) with his band Mars Hotel, a changing cast of friends who are also plugged into the Dead magic for a night for dancing, spinning, whirling, and perhaps even attaining spiritual enlightenment!

The ever-popular and always inventive Stu Allen & Mars Hotel may include some familiar songs (especially of the Dead variety) as well as Allen’s own compositions, which singer and guitarist Allen and crew use as launching pads for flights of improvisation. Allen is one of the leading figures in the jam band and Dead-inspired community, featured in such groups as Front Street, Melvin Seals & JGB, and Workingman’s Ed. He has performed at the annual Jerry Garcia Day concerts in San Francisco’s McLaren Park and even led an entire day at the Dead on the Creek festival featuring his various bands. He has also played with Bob Weir, Steve Kimock, Warren Haynes, and numerous other prominent musicians.

Allen, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, joined Melvin Seals & JGB in June 2004 and appears on the “Keepers of the Flame” album. With his uncanny improvising skill and his commitment to making every performance unique, Allen has made extensive contributions to the jam music scene. In the early 1990s, he co-founded the Minnesota-based acoustic-electric jam band Blue Man Jive, which issued one CD, “Playing God.” He was also a founder of the Jones Gang, Minneapolis’ premier Grateful Dead tribute band. Now a resident of San Francisco, Allen continues to explore, experiment, create, and recreate within a variety of musical styles, many of them Dead-linked.