Trey Anastasio: "Trey Anastasio" April 30, 2002 - The New York Post by Dan Aquilante Album Review - Trey Anastasio After more than a year's separation from his Phish pals, jam band guitar ace Trey Anastasio turns in a disc on which he captures the elusive jubilation of improvised performance within the tight confines of a studio disc. Trey slays on his self-titled collection that hitches his fleet 12-fingered guitar work to funkified horns and a Southern feel that a boy from Vermont's cow country has no business with. Anastasio, with a little help from loads of friends, has combined blues country, rock, boogie and soul in a brew that hasn't been bottled since Little Feat was big. Anastasio flirts with rhythm and noise in ways that he never did with Phish. Still fans will immediately latch onto his melodies that reach way beyond the standard verse/chorus/verse structure that is contemporary pop. Take "Last Tube" an edgily aggressive number where his stratosphere guitar is grounded by funk horns and Brazilian carnival drumming. It's a horse of a different color that you can't help but want to ride. "Ether Sunday," a walking tempo-jazz strut about "how life is just a funny dream," is one of those songs that sticks with you hours after the disc stops spinning. It is melodically simple, and much less layered than the rest of this record, but its old-fashioned whistle-it appeal make "Ether" a highlight. Anastasio is less successful on the slow "Flock of Words" that is lyrically pretty but doesn't fit his vocal or instrumental abilities.