The newly reformed Dixie Dregs tore into New York's Ritz last fall for a long awaited return to the Big Apple, armed with a new album on their original Capricorn Records label. The album, Bring 'Em Back Alive, provides a good sampling of the virtuositous display the Dixie Dregs were about to fire off.

The evening started with the Red Devils, a raucous rock and blues band connected to the Dregs by only the most tenuous of threads, the way some of the best Bill Graham shows were tied together at the Fillmores. The Red Devils were also supporting a live album, King King on Def American. A provocative juxtapositioning.

The Dixie Dregs seemed anxious to begin the evening. While videos filled the intermission between the two bands, the band began noodling behind the curtain to vids by the Black Crowes and Fabulous Thunderbirds. As the videos ended and the screens were raised, the stage exploded with the Dixie Dregs' version of fusionary rock. Any rust the members had acquired during the group's almost decade-long hiatus has long been shaken off. Of course, the fellas have kept their individual rust to a minimum through their solo and side projects, and collectively had hit the stage more than once in the last year.

The Dixie Dregs who appeared at the Ritz were not the "original" Dixie Dregs. Key man in the band, T Lavitz, still tickles the ivories on this Reunion Tour. Steve Morse still wrestles heroically with the six string, and the double bass drumming of Rod Morgenstein powers the band as always. However, Dave LaRue, from Morse's solo band, has been filling the bassman shoes of co-founder Andy West for some time. While violinist Alan Sloan declined to continue with the Dregs for this leg of the tour, the good doctor's fiddle parts were more than adequately handled by Jerry Goodman of the Flock and the original Mahavishnu Orchestra. He's a fitting fill-in for one of the finest bands to come out of the Mahavishnu/Jeff Beck mold.

The audience responded with enthusiasm to everything the Dixie Dregs threw at them, from their opening charge to their encore (an instrumental version of "Kashmir"). Fans of the progressive side of rock'n'roll (heavy on the rock) should pick up the album and treat themselves to live Dregs whenever possible.

Transcribed by John D. Smith