Anastasio phishes for success June 14, 2002 - Daytona Beach News-Journal by Rick de Yampert Album Review - Trey Anastasio 3 1/2 (of 5) Phish, that free-wheeling jam band, has been temporarily mothballed, but Phish head Trey Anastasio has fried up some tasty concoctions of his own on his first, self-titled solo album. After Phish voluntarily went on hiatus in the fall of 2000, singer-guitarist Anastasio assembled a posse of brass and reed and cello fellows alongside the traditional rock band lineup. He road-tested them on tour last summer, then corralled them into The Barn, his mountainside studio in his native Vermont. And so, akin to his day-job band, Anastasio's solo crew conjures a smorgasbord of sounds: bossa nova on "Alive Again," some Southern-fried, Little Feat-meets-Average White Band funk on "Cayman Review," and even some retro, '70s-style rock on "Night Speaks to a Woman." And, of course, Anastasio's sonic alchemy produces some more bizarro beasts. With its alternating chaotic rumble and regal flourishes, "Mr. Completely" sounds like Rush meets grunge. Yet, surprisingly it works. A noble failure is "At the Gazebo," a sedate cello and old-timey brass instrumental that reveals Anastasio has either Aaron Copland or Beatle-esque pretensions. On the word side, lyricist Tom Marshall isn't going to win any he's-the-next-Dylan awards. "I hope the land around you yields a crop like all the other fields and then your waiting might make sense . . . summer's coming and I'd like a review," Anastasio mutters on "Alive Again." But look at the words as just another instrument in Anastasio's large, outre jazz band, and the lyrics reveal their usefulness. Phish may be in the fridge, but Anastasio, thankfully, is still cooking.