That medley tradition is highly improvisational in character, and it's not a stretch to claim that Irish traditional music produced the world's first jam bands. Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter had strong roots in Bluegrass, another musical form with a strong debt to Celtic sounds, and perhaps it was thus inevitable that some of their best songs would blend perfectly with the Trad songbook. As the music on Wake The Dead proves, they do, inevitable or not. Every segue works, and every track is beautiful. This, then, is the living legacy of the Grateful Dead, great new performances of great songs.
Dead songs live, and the lives of listeners everywhere are better for it.