Trey Anastasio - Trey Anastasio June 21, 2002 - The Washington Post by Geoffrey Himes Album Review - Trey Anastasio There's nothing like a horn section to focus a guitarist's mind. As one-fourth of Phish since 1983, Trey Anastasio has been known as a gifted guitarist whose dexterity was often undermined by the sprawling shapelessness of the band's songwriting and arrangements. But since Phish went on sabbatical at the end of 2000, Anastasio has been working with a new band fueled by a blues-rock rhythm section and steered by a four-person horn section. After more than a year of touring, that band has now released "Trey Anastasio," the best album the guitarist has ever been associated with. The results are surprising, for the disc trades in the spacey improvisation of Phish for the kind of party music heard at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Bassist Tony Markellis and drummer Russ Lawton -- credited as co-writers on five songs -- are less ambitious than the Phish rhythm section but more adept at the repeating syncopated patterns of Afro-Caribbean-Louisiana dance music. Those patterns are given flesh and muscle by the horns, and Anastasio responds to the structure with the most inventive, captivating guitar work of his career. The album is not perfect: Some tracks lapse into meandering jam-band indulgence; the lyrics are still forgettable; and Anastasio's string charts are underwhelming. But when the eight-piece band locks into a body-shaking groove, as they do on the first single "Alive Again," the Caribbean workout "Cayman Review" or the 11-minute "Last Tube," the joyful exuberance is contagious and Anastasio's guitar solos are leaner and more lyrical than ever. © 2002 The Washington Post