“I've never really made a lot of decisions...

It isn't too much of a surprise, given that three of the four reunited this fall to play a concert for Barack Obama, but the surviving members of the Dead are giving it another go, launching a 19-date tour this spring that stops in Chicago on March 5 with a show at the All State Arena. As with their 2004 reunion shows, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart will play with Allman Brot...

Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh revisits the Dead repertoire with a rotating cast of musicians that he bills as Phil Lesh and Friends tonight at 10 p.m. at the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard; The Roots are the only major rap act to play Summerfest’s whitewashed line-up this year, but at least they’re an uncompromising one...

The Brahms symphony, considered to be one of the 19th-century com poser’s most emblematic works, gave Lesh a musical appreciation and grounding in a broader compositional discipline unusual to rock musicians. It also led the Berkeley, Calif. native on an impressive musical journey that preceded his chance mid-1960s...