WEBVTT 00:00:19.469 --> 00:00:22.789 Welcome back to Shecky's Jam Bands. I'm Shecky, 00:00:23.070 --> 00:00:25.289 and I need to ask you something important right 00:00:25.289 --> 00:00:28.870 at the top. Regular listeners of this podcast 00:00:28.870 --> 00:00:32.469 know that we've referenced Trey Anastasio in 00:00:32.469 --> 00:00:36.070 approximately 900 different episodes. A little 00:00:36.070 --> 00:00:39.070 exaggeration, not quite 900, but quite a few. 00:00:39.929 --> 00:00:42.850 He appeared on stage with Goose at Radio City 00:00:42.850 --> 00:00:47.609 Music Hall, Russ Lawton and Ray Pachowski, both 00:00:47.609 --> 00:00:51.740 from The Lamp episode, are in his band. We mentioned 00:00:51.740 --> 00:00:55.460 him in the String Cheese Incident episode. The 00:00:55.460 --> 00:00:58.359 man's fingerprints are on half of this podcast. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:03.020 So today, finally, we're going all the way in 00:01:03.020 --> 00:01:07.120 on Trey's own project. Not Phish, not a guest 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:11.760 appearance, the Trey Anastasio band, otherwise 00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:16.340 known as TAB, T -A -B. The eight -piece, horn 00:01:16.340 --> 00:01:19.879 -driven, groove first machine that Trey built 00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:23.400 in 1998 in his brother -in -law's nightclub. 00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:26.959 And the story of how it started with dancers 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:30.079 waving actual eight foot long fluorescent tubes 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:34.359 on stage is exactly as wonderful as it sounds. 00:01:35.799 --> 00:01:38.780 The year is 1998, Trey Anastasio's brother -in 00:01:38.780 --> 00:01:42.079 -law is opening a new music venue in Burlington, 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:45.640 Vermont called Higher Ground. He asked Trey to 00:01:45.640 --> 00:01:48.560 play a benefit concert for the club's opening 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:53.180 weekend. Second show ever at this venue. No pressure. 00:01:54.239 --> 00:01:57.799 Now, Trey Anastasio of Phish is not a person 00:01:57.799 --> 00:02:01.159 who needs a new band. Phish is one of the biggest 00:02:01.159 --> 00:02:05.459 touring acts in America. He is doing fine. But 00:02:05.459 --> 00:02:08.539 here's what happened. Somewhere along the way, 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:11.819 Trey went to the club in Burlington called Hunts. 00:02:12.110 --> 00:02:16.689 and heard a bassist named Tony Markellis playing 00:02:16.689 --> 00:02:20.090 with a local group called Big Joe and the Unknown 00:02:20.090 --> 00:02:24.229 Blues Band. And Trey, by his own account, completely 00:02:24.229 --> 00:02:28.270 freaked out. He was floored by the musicianship 00:02:28.270 --> 00:02:32.530 and it was the moment, he said, that made him 00:02:32.530 --> 00:02:36.030 want to move to Burlington. He approached Markellis 00:02:36.030 --> 00:02:39.210 and said, Someday, Tony, we're gonna get a band 00:02:39.210 --> 00:02:42.639 together and you're gonna play bass. When the 00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:46.039 higher ground benefit came up, that day arrived. 00:02:46.659 --> 00:02:50.520 Trey called Tony. Tony said yes, and Tony suggested 00:02:50.520 --> 00:02:54.280 his favorite drummer, Russ Lawton. Now, listeners 00:02:54.280 --> 00:02:58.599 of our LAMP episode know Russ Lawton well. National 00:02:58.599 --> 00:03:02.419 drug champion, LAMP co -founder, Vermont legend, 00:03:03.199 --> 00:03:06.659 Russ showed up to Trey's rehearsal space, and 00:03:06.659 --> 00:03:11.020 Trey asked him what he had. And Russ... who was 00:03:11.020 --> 00:03:13.300 always working on tunes, handed over a bunch 00:03:13.300 --> 00:03:16.740 of musical ideas. Ideas that became first tube. 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:21.460 Ideas that became sand. Ideas that became gada 00:03:21.460 --> 00:03:25.419 -jaboo. Songs that would eventually migrate from 00:03:25.419 --> 00:03:29.439 tab into Fish's setlist and stay there for decades. 00:03:30.580 --> 00:03:33.080 The first version of the band was called Eight 00:03:33.080 --> 00:03:36.680 Foot Fluorescent Tubes. Eight feet for short. 00:03:36.900 --> 00:03:40.280 And it featured actual eight foot glowing fluorescent 00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:48.800 tubes waving and it featured eight foot glowing 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:52.319 fluorescent tubes being waved by dancers on stage. 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:57.159 Because why not? This was 1998. Creativity was 00:03:57.159 --> 00:04:01.360 encouraged. They went on tour as a trio in spring 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:05.099 1999 and then piece by piece the band grew into 00:04:05.099 --> 00:04:09.069 something bigger. A year or two into Tab's existence, 00:04:09.389 --> 00:04:12.490 Trey started bringing horns home. And the horn 00:04:12.490 --> 00:04:14.930 section was built around a trumpet player named 00:04:14.930 --> 00:04:18.709 Jennifer Hartzwick, who had just graduated from 00:04:18.709 --> 00:04:22.050 high school in Vermont called Linden Institute 00:04:22.050 --> 00:04:25.550 High School. She was fresh out of high school 00:04:25.550 --> 00:04:29.370 when Trey Anastasio put her in his touring band. 00:04:29.610 --> 00:04:33.639 Hartzwick has been with Tab ever since. She's 00:04:33.639 --> 00:04:36.100 now one of the most respected horn players in 00:04:36.100 --> 00:04:39.300 the jam world, a trumpet player and vocalist 00:04:39.300 --> 00:04:42.480 whose range and power give the band a dimension 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:46.819 that pure guitar, bass, drums, keys simply cannot 00:04:46.819 --> 00:04:52.500 match. And she joined at 18. The trombone chair 00:04:52.500 --> 00:04:55.980 was originally held by Jeff Cressman, and his 00:04:55.980 --> 00:04:58.420 daughter, Natalie Cressman, eventually took the 00:04:58.420 --> 00:05:01.480 chair when her father went out with Santana. 00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:06.839 Trey has described Natalie as Tab's first second 00:05:06.839 --> 00:05:10.480 -generation member, a trombone player succeeding 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:14.540 her own father in the same band. That's a lineage. 00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:18.180 Ray Piekowski, our LAMP co -founder, the man 00:05:18.180 --> 00:05:21.600 who milked cows in Middlebury until it was time 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:25.500 to go play a show, became the full -time keyboardist. 00:05:25.980 --> 00:05:28.779 Brazilian percussionist brought the world music 00:05:28.779 --> 00:05:31.240 rhythms and textures that no one else in the 00:05:31.240 --> 00:05:35.779 jam world was incorporating at that time. Bassist 00:05:35.779 --> 00:05:39.339 Desron Douglas, whose jazz credentials run wide 00:05:39.339 --> 00:05:43.259 and deep, joined more recently. Saxophonist Kenneth 00:05:43.259 --> 00:05:47.360 Whalum completed the current eight -piece roster. 00:05:48.379 --> 00:05:51.160 Eight people on stage playing together like one 00:05:51.160 --> 00:05:55.689 instrument. This is what tab is. Groove Forward, 00:05:55.990 --> 00:05:59.810 Horn Driven, Melodic, and Trey Anastasio already 00:05:59.810 --> 00:06:02.230 the front man on one of the greatest bands in 00:06:02.230 --> 00:06:05.509 history of American live music, playing with 00:06:05.509 --> 00:06:08.810 a freedom and joy that even Fish fans sometimes 00:06:08.810 --> 00:06:14.029 say they only see in full on Tab nights. My one 00:06:14.029 --> 00:06:18.610 song for Tab is Gotta Jabot. And if you've heard 00:06:18.610 --> 00:06:22.149 it before, you know why. And if you haven't, 00:06:22.379 --> 00:06:25.139 You're about to understand everything about what 00:06:25.139 --> 00:06:29.319 this band does in under seven minutes. Got a 00:06:29.319 --> 00:06:34.139 Jabot is co -written by Tony Markellis and Trey. 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:38.579 In those first Burlington sessions, it's a funk 00:06:38.579 --> 00:06:42.279 -forward, groove -first instrumental that became 00:06:42.279 --> 00:06:46.040 one of the defining songs in both the Tab and 00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:49.480 Phish catalogs. Phish eventually added it to 00:06:49.480 --> 00:06:53.519 their own sets and Markellis himself joined Phish 00:06:53.519 --> 00:06:57.519 on stage at Saratoga to play it with them, which 00:06:57.519 --> 00:07:00.259 was one of the most satisfying full circle moments 00:07:00.259 --> 00:07:04.100 in this world. Here's what makes Got a Jaboo 00:07:04.100 --> 00:07:07.519 the right entry point for new listeners. It tells 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:10.699 you immediately that Tab is not Phish with horns 00:07:10.699 --> 00:07:14.860 added. It's its own thing. The groove is tighter, 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:18.279 the pocket is deeper, the improvisation is more 00:07:18.279 --> 00:07:22.240 funk -rooted and less psychedelic. Trey's guitar, 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:25.720 in its context, plays differently, more melodic, 00:07:25.800 --> 00:07:29.600 more rhythmic, less exploratory, and more intentional. 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:33.600 And when the horn section hits behind it, the 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:36.980 whole thing becomes something a four -piece band 00:07:36.980 --> 00:07:40.920 simply cannot replicate. Live versions of Gata 00:07:40.920 --> 00:07:44.879 -Jabot regularly stretch into extended territory, 00:07:45.220 --> 00:07:49.379 the groove setting up improvised sections. where 00:07:49.379 --> 00:07:52.740 each horn player gets space, where Prakowski's 00:07:52.740 --> 00:07:56.259 keys find pockets, the tray leaves open, where 00:07:56.259 --> 00:08:00.379 Cairo, Baptista, percussion adds texture underneath, 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:04.319 the song is a machine, and like all great machines, 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:08.939 it rewards watching up close. Start there, then 00:08:08.939 --> 00:08:13.839 go to first tube, sand, drifting, push on, till 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:18.300 the day, then find any tab, live recording, and 00:08:18.300 --> 00:08:21.500 press play. The rest takes care of itself. Things 00:08:21.500 --> 00:08:23.779 worth noting. I mentioned before the original 00:08:23.779 --> 00:08:27.639 band had dancers with actual 8 -foot tubes. 8 00:08:27.639 --> 00:08:30.620 -foot fluorescent tubes, the first name of the 00:08:30.620 --> 00:08:35.559 project, featuring literal 8 -foot glowing fluorescent 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:39.100 tubes being waved by dancers on a stage during 00:08:39.100 --> 00:08:42.539 performances. This detail is perfect and should 00:08:42.539 --> 00:08:46.730 never be forgotten. Ray Prakowski had brain surgery 00:08:46.730 --> 00:08:51.090 before rejoining. Long -time tab keyboardist 00:08:51.090 --> 00:08:54.850 Ray Prakowski, who he covered in depth in the 00:08:54.850 --> 00:08:57.830 LAMP episode, underwent brain surgery to remove 00:08:57.830 --> 00:09:02.950 a tumor in 2018 with his motor function and ability 00:09:02.950 --> 00:09:07.110 to play genuinely at risk. He recovered fully, 00:09:07.389 --> 00:09:10.519 his return to the keys and to Tab is one of the 00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:13.799 greatest comeback stories in the jam world. Last 00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:16.100 fact I think you find interesting and I think 00:09:16.100 --> 00:09:19.000 I mentioned this earlier in this episode is the 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:22.120 band started in their brother -in -law's nightclub 00:09:22.120 --> 00:09:25.320 higher ground in Burlington, Vermont. Still operating 00:09:25.320 --> 00:09:27.580 today as one of the best mid -sized venues in 00:09:27.580 --> 00:09:31.600 New England hosted Tab's second ever show in 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:34.679 existence at the club. The brother -in -law asked 00:09:34.679 --> 00:09:38.809 for a benefit concert Trey called Tony Tony Cole 00:09:38.809 --> 00:09:43.470 Russ, and the rest is history. Here's where I 00:09:43.470 --> 00:09:46.570 land on with Trey Anastasio Band. It started 00:09:46.570 --> 00:09:48.710 as a favor for a brother -in -law's nightclub 00:09:48.710 --> 00:09:52.389 with dancers waving fluorescent tubes, and over 00:09:52.389 --> 00:09:55.610 25 plus years it became something that serves 00:09:55.610 --> 00:09:59.009 multiple functions simultaneously. A creative 00:09:59.009 --> 00:10:02.470 laboratory for new fish material, a vehicle for 00:10:02.470 --> 00:10:05.710 some of the finest musicians in the Vermont and 00:10:05.710 --> 00:10:08.559 broader jam world, and an eight -piece groove 00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:12.000 machine that gives Trey Anastasio creative freedom 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:14.960 he can't always find elsewhere. You've heard 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:17.480 about TAB throughout this podcast, in episode 00:10:17.480 --> 00:10:21.799 after episode. Russ Lawton, Ray Pekowski, The 00:10:21.799 --> 00:10:25.019 Goose Radio City Night, The Taylor Scott, and 00:10:25.019 --> 00:10:28.899 Warren Hayes world. All of it connects back here. 00:10:29.539 --> 00:10:32.879 TAB is the connective tissue between Phish's 00:10:32.879 --> 00:10:35.700 legacy and the next generation of jam music. 00:10:36.029 --> 00:10:39.330 the place where the two worlds meet and produce 00:10:39.330 --> 00:10:43.730 something entirely on its own. Find Gata -Jabot, 00:10:44.490 --> 00:10:49.049 find First Tube Live, find Sand, find any TAB 00:10:49.049 --> 00:10:52.149 recording from any year and let the horns take 00:10:52.149 --> 00:10:54.450 you somewhere. And if TAB is coming to a city 00:10:54.450 --> 00:10:57.830 near you and they're touring regularly in both 00:10:57.830 --> 00:11:00.830 the classic four -piece format and the full eight 00:11:00.830 --> 00:11:04.860 -piece version, just go. You might be hearing 00:11:04.860 --> 00:11:08.580 the next Phish song even before Phish has heard 00:11:08.580 --> 00:11:14.860 it. That's the Trey Anastasio Band. That's Shecky's 00:11:14.860 --> 00:11:17.480 Jam Bands. Thank you for listening and I'll see 00:11:17.480 --> 00:11:18.299 you next time.