Don Was and the Pan-Detroit Ensemble

Drawing on the wide-ranging influences of his five-decade career, Don Was has assembled his band, the Pan-Detroit Ensemble, and recorded their debut album Groove in the Face of Adversity. The album channels the soul of the Motor City through a blend of steamy jazz, juke-joint blues, and loose-limbed funk—a sound both timeless and deeply personal. In concert, Don and the band will feature music from Groove in the Face of Adversity alongside a live rendition of The Grateful Dead’s Blues for Allah, celebrating the album’s 50th anniversary and Don’s long musical association with Bobby Weir.

Don Was isn’t just covering the Grateful Dead—he’s lived this music. As a longtime collaborator with Bob Weir in Wolf Bros, Was has earned the respect of the Dead community by understanding what makes these songs special: they’re meant to breathe, evolve, and take on a life of their own. For the 50th anniversary of Blues for Allah, he’s bringing together the Pan-Detroit Ensemble to perform one of the Dead’s most adventurous and underrated albums.

This isn’t a tribute band trying to recreate every note. It’s a room full of incredible musicians using Blues for Allah as a launching pad for improvisation, jazz, blues, funk, and deep grooves—the same spirit that made Grateful Dead shows unforgettable.

Whether Blues for Allah is one of your favorite records or you’ve just always appreciated the Dead’s exploratory side, this is a rare chance to hear the album interpreted by musicians who truly understand its DNA. It’s less about nostalgia and more about keeping the music alive—the way the Grateful Dead always intended.

ABOUT: As a record producer, Don Was has won six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year in 1989 for Bonnie Raitt’s Nick of Time and Producer of the Year in 1994. Albums he has produced have sold close to 100 million copies for a wide array of artists such as The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, John Mayer, Ringo Starr, Wayne Shorter, The B-52s, and Charles Lloyd. In 1995, he produced and directed the Brian Wilson documentary I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times, which won the San Francisco Film Festival’s Golden Gate Award. As a film composer, he received the 1994 British Academy Award (BAFTA) for Best Original Score for the film Backbeat. He also won the 2014 Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction for CBS’s The Beatles: The Night That Changed America.

In 2018, Don joined Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir to form the Wolf Brothers. In April 2023, he served as Music Director for Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday celebration at the Hollywood Bowl, and he is featured in the Willie Nelson & Family documentary on Paramount+. In September 2024, he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Americana Music Foundation at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. He also hosts Dinner With Don Was, a weekly radio show on John Mayer’s SiriusXM Channel 14.