Oteil & Friends Rings In 2026 At The Parker With Spiritual Groove Session

All images by Larry Marano

Photo By Larry Marano

There are New Year's Eve shows that explode with confetti and manufactured joy, and then there's what Oteil Burbridge delivered at The Parker: a groove-based extravaganza that treated the calendar's turn as something to contemplate rather than celebrate.

Fresh from Egypt and draped in a flowing galabiya, the bassist approached the evening with grace. His instrument became the room's anchor, laying down thick, circular grooves that gave his ensemble featuring Jason Crosby's restless multi-instrumentalism and drummer John Morgan Kimock's patient pulse the foundation to explore without ever losing their way.

The setlist was pretty much a prayer book for jam band devotees. "My Sisters and Brothers" opened with communal warmth, while Lamar Williams Jr.'s "Love and War" showcased the familial chemistry that defined the night. These weren't musicians chasing solos; they were building something collective.

By set two, the band had earned the crowd's trust enough to take risks. "Estimated Prophet" slithered into Pink Floyd's "Money," transforming familiar terrain into something slyly subversive. When Crosby lifted his violin for "Friend of the Devil," he steered the Dead classic toward Marshall Tucker territory—front-porch intimate rather than stadium vast.

The midnight sequence—"Help on the Way" through "Franklin's Tower"—avoided the typical New Year's eruption. Instead, Burbridge's bass carried the transition like a steady heartbeat, letting the room exhale into 2026 rather than explode into it.

"In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" arrived as instrumental reverence, with guitarists Tom Guarna and Jaden Lehman honoring Allman Brothers lineage without mimicking it. Even "Fire on the Mountain" chose to smolder.