Phish Navigates Upstream To The Garden December 30, 1994 - The Record (Pg. 005) by Mark Porter Four years ago, a tiny independent label based in Oakland released "Lawn Boy," an initial recording by the band Phish. Tonight, a decade after the members of Phish first began playing together, Phish is headlining at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. In between, Phish built grass-roots fame by constantly touring. The quartet, which includes two New Jerseyans, went to college in Vermont, where they honed their musical skills in the student pubs of Burlington. When "Lawn Boy" was released, the Phish foursome had been sharing a house in the Green Mountain State. With their monicker derived from drummer Jon Fishman's name and their reputation from his antics, Phish developed an admiring cult, and then a following, and then legions of fans, based solely on word-of-mouth raves for their exceptional shows, which draw comparisons to the Grateful Dead and Sun Ra, Charles Mingus, and Pink Floyd (and any combination of the above). Phish couples solid musicianship with complex, classy arrangements that seem deceptively simple, deceptively effortless. The members diverse backgrounds in classical jazz, bluegrass, and rock are meshed with goofily cryptic lyrics and performance-art amusements on the concert stage. Portions of their newest album, "Hoist," such as guitarist Trey Anastasio's tune "If I Could," could pass for "Grateful Dead: The Next Generation." And the relatively unadorned "Lifeboy" has a gorgeous arrangement highlighted by an acoustic piano, a smattering of cymbals, and a vocal harmony that strongly recalls the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia/Phil Lesh and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour/Roger Waters harmonic combinations, with insightfully striking lyrics similar to the philosophic creations of XTC's Andy Partridge. Phish frolics in jazzy realms, and the group's newest album is mixed by Ed Thacker, who was jazz bassist Stanley Clarke's engineer and has produced numerous jazz-fusion releases. Having built a considerable following through word of mouth, and having released three major-label albums, Phish attracts fans of varied ages and musical interests. The Phish show tonight begins at 8, and tickets are $ 22.50. Call (212) 465-6000.