New Bay Area Benefit Concert for Tom “TC” Constanten

On December 23, a benefit concert for the Grateful Dead’s one-time collaborator, Tom “TC” Constanten, will occur at the Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center in Berkeley, Calif. The event promises musical performances from a house band, featuring Constanten, Scott Guberman, Mark Karan, Prairie Prince, John Paul McLean, Anna Elva, and Sam Whitman, joined by a slate of special guests. 

Select musicians will join Constanten and the event’s house band to enrich the night’s performance with a selection of songs. Guest slots have been reserved for Sunshine Garcia Becker, Skip Eye, Reed Mathis, David Gans, John Hanrahan, Ryan Densmore, and Bob Bralove, who have signed on to participate in the forthcoming concert. 

Before word of the benefit concert spread, a GoFundMe was launched to raise funds for Constanten’s medical costs and treatments. Sweet Relief Musicians Fund started its own fundraising initiative to support the keyboardist, who is battling lung cancer. 

Constanten’s association with the Grateful Dead extends back to his stage debut with the ensemble on November 23, 1968, at the Memorial Auditorium in Athens, Ohio. He remained a fixture of the group’s live and studio sound, contributing to three album cycles: 1968’s Anthem of the Sun, 1969’s Aoxomoxoa, and their fan-loved live album, 1969’s Live Dead, receiving praise for his contributions on “Dark Star.” 

Constanten’s arrival coincided with Ron “Pigpen” McKern’s failing health status, allowing the band to keep up their performance regimen while also acknowledging the needs of their original keyboardist, who passed away on March 8, 1973. 

During his final chapter with the Dead, Contanten took part in the notorious January 31, 1970, concert in New Orleans, his final with the band. This occasion informed the group’s iconic track “Truckin’” after their bust on Bourbon Street. Notably, he appeared with the famed group once more, on April 28, 1971, at New York’s Fillmore East, in what became known as Ladies and Gentlemen… the Grateful Dead record. 

For tickets and more information on the benefit concert, visit Ashkenaz.com.