What if you could create your favorite Phish jam? You could formulate and build one Phish jam sequence for the rest of your life. That’s all- nothing else, but it would be exactly what you wanted. Like sitting on the proverbial desert island with a boombox fully loaded with this one jam- for the rest of time; happily. If you can disregard the absurdity of the proposition, it can certainly open up an interesting conversation.
First off, I would want something of at least 40+ minutes that hits on multiple Phish realms- grooves, bliss, ambient space, evil darkness- all wrapped into one jam. It would need to be exploratory, yet cohesive; out there, yet directed. The jam would have to posses an extended session of ferocious Phish grooves, with Trey and Mike crushing it, to satiate just that part of my addiction. Page and Fish would both frame and contribute to the action as two complimentary cogs on the machine. Trey would have to then take the lead over the funk and begin playing ridiculously improvised lines and melodies- practically sounding rehearsed.
The jam would most definitely have to travel to an abstract Phishy-ambient space, with Fishman playing shimmering beats, bringing the music deeper. Page, Mike and Trey would be an amorphous ball of harmony and melody. This jam might seem that it was heading for a landing point, but the whole band would jump on a new idea and take the abstract jam to a much darker place. It would then build into one of those delicate and sacred places, where the band just oozes “it,” and Trey would enter his “spiritual” playing with divine phrases and licks. The band would move as one through this plane, bringing you along for the ride. Things would just become subconscious- for them, for you, for everyone- the unifying spirit; completely unique experience. Led by improvisation that you don’t see every day, and would most definitely write home about, this jam would posses at least some of the answers. Phish would then somehow creep the music, unsuspectingly, from the depth, back to where you thought it was going in the first place.
Seamlessly transitioning into a new song that they nail- just as the adventure was over, there would be a new beginning- they would start to jam out of the end of the song for the only time in the band’s career! You always knew this song could reach another level if they used the ending as a jumping off point-and they do- this is your perfect world. The improvisation would build from beauty back into even darker and heavier abstract places- stuff you’ve never really imagined. Spirits of the universe groaning awake after a slumber of a million years. They band would be channeling an extra-terrestrial energy, providing a psychedelic trampoline to face your inner-self amidst this celestial sludge- confronting your fears and realizing your dreams. This jam would build to a frightening peak in this alternate universe before trickling back down to earth. Yeah, all that would have to happen if this was gonna’ be my only jam for the rest of my life.
To me, there is really only one answer to this seemingly impossible question. I just described it. The Island Run’s Roses>Piper.
Listen and watch below.
What is your “desert island” jam? Reply in comments and start a conversation!
SOME SNIPPETS FROM THE JOURNEY:
ROSES ARE FREE Part 2
ROSES Part 3
(photos: Nassau 4.3.98, Joel Price::video: silverchair97)
