Bob Weir

The Dead had Bruce Hornsby in the guest seat for a time. His musical chops, ability to fit into the Dead's sound contributed to a brief musical renaissance for the band. Ultimately, he chose not to continue with them because of the vibe around Jerry's drug use.

@ezwind 

Well then, he clearly had no such reservations!

@wharfy 

Yes; I was aware of that but I've never heard any of those shows so I have no idea regarding Hornsby's stylistic versatility. 

Another great keyboard player: Reese Wynans. His work with SRV was stellar. He was for a brief time, the original Allman Brothers keyboard player but had to bow out to make room for Gregg.  

First of all, while Hornsby has stated that he was concerned about Garcia's drug use and health in general, I don't believe he's said that was the reason he "left" the Dead. Bruce was a pretty big star on his own at the time and it was always understood that he would just stay long enough to help with the transition to Vince Welnick on keyboards. He had his own career and band to get back to.

I'm not sure how Bruce would have fit with the band had he become the permanent keyboard player. He only played the grand piano with the Dead (and occasional accordian), so I'm not familiar with his othe keyboard/synth abilities. But I'm sure his chops are probably just fine. On piano, I found Bruce to be a more melodic player than Godchaux while Brent's forte was the organ. He also did a lot more soloing than other Dead keyboard players. Hornsby would often engage in extended jams into the drums/space segment with various combinations of band members. I remember one from MSG in '90 where he, Jerry and Vince did a gorgeous jam out of Fooish Heart:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOqKSpd_pv0

@ezwind 

You'd have to provide specific examples, regarding Bruce being more melodic. As I mentioned, what I enjoy about Keith's playing is his ability to play convincingly in different styles. It was sad how his playing went way downhill, eventually. 

I'm generally not a fan of synths, so that's a moot point with me. Well, Stevie Wonder, Steve Winwood and Pete Townshend being the three exceptions. 

Maybe you could recommend a particular show for the Bruce era...

@stuartk 

Not being a musician my use of terms to describe styles might not be technically precise. But to me, Keith, in his best years, was more of a rock and roll, boogie woogie type player. Hornsby's playing style, to my ears, was more elegant and flowing with a lighter touch, which I interpreted as melodic. Bruce seemed more polished and reliant on technique but Keith played with more soul. Those were some of my impressions with my untrained ears.

But if you want to judge for yourself, this was one of my favorite Hornsby shows from 3/31/91 in Greensboro NC (the next night there was also excellent). The Eyes of the World is stunning. The Spring and Summer tours from 91 were imo the last great tours in the Dead's history:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSRsDwvjjjU