Going strong
Gregg Allman has cheated death more times than anyone in rock, save perhaps Keith Richards. In the past, the dance with death found Allman leading, so deep did his troubles with drugs and alcohol run. But last year, a reportedly clean and sober Allman was diagnosed with Hepatitis C, and a string of Allman Brothers Band and Allman solo shows were postponed as a result. The disease is no joke, and it required lengthy rehabilitation. But Allman is back, in a big way. Last week, Rolling Stone reported that the Allman Brothers Band would play a 10-night run at the famed Beacon Theatre in New York City beginning March 9, to commemorate the band’s 40th anniversary. Further, the Beacon run will be a tribute to fallen Brother Duane Allman, who was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1971, just shy of his 25th birthday. Rumor has it that several luminaries — among them Eric Clapton — will be on hand for guest slots during the Beacon shows. Allman will be working with his own band right up until those March gigs, including a show inside the Seneca Allegany Casino in Salamanca at 8 p. m. Saturday. As ever, Allman has surrounded himself with some of the finest musicians currently working for this solo jaunt. “I always try to play with people who are better than me, because it makes you play better,“ he recently told the Standard-Times. “The guys in this band help me keep young, they really do.” Helping keep Allman, 61, feeling young will be guitarist Scott Sharrad, keyboardist Bruce Katz, drummer Steve Potts, saxophonist Jay Collins, bassist Jerry Jemmott and percussionist Floyd Miles. Between them, the members of this incredible band have played with the likes of Aretha Franklin, John Hammond, Big Mama Thornton, Ray Charles, Levon Helm and Wilson Pickett, among many others. As ever during his solo sojourns, Allman will handle vocals and alternate between Hammond organ and electric and acoustic guitar. Reports from early days of the tour suggest some rarely played favorites, several new songs and some radically reworked Allmans tunes will rear their heads. Tickets for Saturday’s show are available through Ticketmaster. — Jeff Miers
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