Talk to Dead & Company bassist Oteil Burbridge, and words like “magic,” “cosmic,” and “fairy tale” pop up. Conversation is peppered with his laughter, from chuckles to loud bursts.
More than once, he tells me with a laugh: “You can’t tell me magic isn’t real, man.”
Watch him on stage and he’s almost always barefoot and — if he’s not laughing or grinning — wearing a serene smile, swaying, eyes closed.
“Oteil From Egypt” to fans (despite the fact he grew up in D.C.) has long struck me as being cut from the same cosmic-cloth as the late great Deadhead/Celtic Bill Walton — just the calmer side of the blanket.
Walton often told people that he was “The luckiest guy in the world.”
It’s a vibe Burbridge, 60, gives off in spades. Grateful for the music, seer of the magic, a childlike passion in his bones, a believer of fairy tales.
When I asked Burbridge about Walton, the Dead’s biggest (at 6 feet 11 inches) Deadhead, he pauses.
“You know the movie ‘Big Fish’?”
I do.
“That’s what my life with the Dead feels like,” Burbridge tells me. “This fairy tale that seems like it can’t be true. It has all these magical people in it. And there’s a giant. Then you realize: It is true. It is magical. It is a fairy tale, and it is your real life. That’s how Bill made me feel.”
Almost a year to the day since the death of the Boston Celtics’ legendary Deadhead, Burbridge heads to Boston to celebrate 60 years of the Dead and Jerry Garcia with the Boston Pops. The Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration on June 3 and 4 includes Jerry Garcia Band legend Melvin Seals, among others.
I called the two-time Grammy winner at his South Florida home. We talked giants, magic, fairy tales, goblins, devils — and that giant magic fairy tale of a cultural phenomenon: the Grateful Dead.
Q. So you’re coming to Boston with a great lineup.
A. Melvin Seals is so great, man. God, you see why Jerry had him for 18 years. Last September, [when] I was touring with Melvin, my mom was really sick. It was agonizing. Being with Melvin — it was magic. He’s a magician. An actual magician. Anybody that can turn that kind of darkness around is doing magic, period. He’s Albus Dumbledore.
Q. You’ve played Boston with a few bands.
A. I first played Boston back with [the first band I joined] Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit. It’s a music town. There’s a Boston audience for whatever you do. But Boston is the worst friggin’ city to drive a tour bus through. But I’m sure you’ve heard that a thousand times, so I won’t go on.
Q. We have some narrow streets.
A. You need to come in on a horse and buggy.
Q. I saw on Instagram you played a replica of Phil Lesh’s “Osiris” bass, called “Mission Control.”
A. Oh, man, that was a trip. My nickname is “Oteil from Egypt” — Col. Bruce Hampton gave me that because my name is Egyptian. I’ve always been into Egyptian iconography, history, religion. So that was cosmic: Oteil From Egypt Plays Osiris. In the pro-wrestling world, we call that a crowd pop.
Q. Crowds shout “Oteil from Egypt,” I see it all the time online. Do you have any Egyptian connection?
A. No. My parents are both American. They gave us all African names, because their names were super Wonder Bread. My [late musician] brother was Kofi, my sisters are Adero, a West African name, and Leilani, which is Hawaiian.
Q. I love that. Can you remember first being drawn to music as a kid?
A. I can’t, because my parents were music fanatics. My dad’s religion was music. My mom put headphones on her stomach when she was pregnant, so I heard Miles and Coltrane in the womb. When I wasn’t even fully formed, that stuff was vibrating my cells. I have zero memories without Elvin Jones and Max Roach.
Q. They were jazz drumming greats — you started on drums at age 5.
A. Honestly, I think that’s why I get hired so much on bass: I know how to play with a drummer.
Q. You even got officially “horned” by the Dead’s Rhythm Devils. I watched your “horning ceremony” a few years ago.
A. I was told about this “Horning Ceremony.” I said, “That sounds suspicious, bro.” When Mickey Hart is looking at you with a goblin-glint in his eye, you get nervous.
Q. So as a kid, you acted, but you told me “TV was icky business.” You also danced.
A. I actually wanted to be a dancer, but Osgood-Schlatter disease took that out.
Q. I had that as a kid. That’s wicked painful. Is that why you switched to music?
A. Exactly. I couldn’t play drums because of Osgood-Schlatter, so I picked up my brother’s bass. I was gunning to get in Kofi’s band so I tried to musically assassinate his bass player [laughs]. I always say “Music isn’t a competition!” It’s like, yeah, that’s [expletive]. I should stop saying that.
Q. Joining Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann’s trio, BK3 was your first direct Dead connection. Phish’s Mike Gordon, of Sudbury, recommended you for that.
A. Mike said he thought I should play with Billy and get my feet wet in the Grateful Dead waters. It was so sincere. I was like, “You know what? I’m down, man.”
Q. I love that you connected with [Dead bassist] Phil Lesh. He told you “Never play it the same way once.”
A. I wish I’d had more of a relationship with him, but I got some quality time. We had some extended private conversations, where I could ask things that would not leave the room. I’m super grateful for that.
Q. It must have been special to see those guys get the Kennedy Center Honor in ‘24.
A. Those are some of my favorite pictures. They deserve it. They changed American culture and American culture changes the world. You cannot overstate the impact they had on the world.
Q. Did you feel intimidated joining?
A. Yes and no. I mean, the Burbridge family motto is “We do it afraid.”
Q. That’s a good T-shirt.
A. Walking out your door is intimidating. You just have to do your homework. When you have a band that’s been together for 50 years, there’s a lot of homework. You cut the pie up and eat one piece at a time.
Q. Did Walton ever get to see Dead & Co at the Sphere?
A. No, man. I was in the gym at the Sphere and [the news of his death] came on ESPN. Thank god I got to spend so much time with Bill. He’d say things like: “Oteil, I was a far better person after I stopped competing. When I was competing, all I wanted to do was win.” Just really beautiful stuff.
Q. I interviewed him and he had this innocent, childlike way of saying profound things.
A. Yes! He loved to play drums. He’d say: “Can I set up drums and play with you? You don’t have to mic ‘em.” I have pictures of him playing drums with Oteil & Friends, grinning from ear to ear. To have that joy and gratitude — it’s inspiring.
JERRY GARCIA SYMPHONIC CELEBRATION
Featuring Melvin Seals, Jacklyn La Branch, Oteil Burbridge, Tom Hamilton, John Morgan Kimock, and Lady Chi. 7:30 p.m., June 3 and 4, Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, bso.org. Call 617-266-1200 for tickets.
Interview was edited and condensed. Lauren Daley can be reached at ldaley33@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @laurendaley1 and Instagram at @laurendaley1.
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