Vida Blue: The Illustrated Band : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

The Illustrated Band is a surprisingly satisfying and super-charged chunk of mo' ritmo funk from the moonlight collective of Phish's Page McConnell. Here conjoined to Afro-Cuban progressives the Spam Allstars, Vida Blue groove and roll through four ultra-loose "movements" (the longest breaking twenty minutes), each a living breathing fusion of astral jazz and Latin beats, none remotely bound to structure. Whereas so much music this elastic sinks by the weight of ambition, The Illustrated Band succeeds on undeniable musicality (drummer Russell Batiste of the Funky Meters has swing for "Days") and an obvious deep knowledge of what's being stretched. Close your eyes in the liveliest passages of the title track or the sample-laden "Charmpit," and breathe the perfume of a cigar smoke-clouded club in Little Havana. There is plenty here on offer for purist and jam-fiend alike.

GREG HELLER
(October 14, 2003)