[tigerstrat]

but the way Ive been seeing it lately is the dead had more structured americana jams and such

where phish had the funk, free-lance jams

i dunno, just my frame of thought right now (I have been listenin to a lot of '95-97 phish and)

I'd have to agree with TJed. A Dead jam could go anywhere, become funky, bluesy, Appalachian, Chinese... evaporate or collect into pools... Phish semed to attempt to become that type of jam collective during the late 90's and imho that's what made that period of the band quite boring, because the one-chord "funk" or "ballad" jams would stretch on and on and on and on and never develop into something different or exciting or scary(i.e. fun). Imho it was during some of Phish's more structured pieces that they could really go out to the edge of the galaxy and incredibly hold on to the changes of the song structure and reel themselves back in for a fiery reentry or an amazing segue... see early 90's Phish, jams like David Bowie, Suzy G, Split Open, YEM, Coil, etc etc

[Mr.Charlie]

see, I love that Phish was able to hold down a groove, that's what I love about the late 90's jams, 98, 97, they just were in that moment, grooving, Trey didn't need to rip some solo, they were just creating an aura, a moment, a jam, a dance. They didn't need to venture into craziness, or the abyss, they were where they were, and it was good. The dead and phish are just different, the dead had a lot more depth in their music, and their jams, like you guys have said, could go anywhere, but that in no way takes away from Phish and what they created. Sometimes I want to be surprised, and thats where a dead jam comes in, other times, I want to hear a groove that will keep going/evolving, and thats where Phish fits in. I've always thought though that comparing the two was futile, totally different bands, all they have in common is the goal of creating improvisational rock jams.

[weirimpressed]

Sorry, I guess I have been messing around with those one-note jams for a while, but I feel like when I jam around with them i can really make somethin happen, or throw the jam around with people playing with you easier

I love early phish too, 87 is a favorite year for me as well, but its really the 95,96,97 stuff I love to jam around and get funked out to. I understand that they have their structured jams too, but their necessary

I think its just the jams I have been listening to lately that made me feel like that at the time of the post.Not a lot of heavy jams from the Dead, more acoustic stuff than anything else. I need to put some new music on this ipod anyways.

Sorry about that, kinda a random burst post.

[Rusty the Scoob]

Some Phish jams are actually "light solos"... Trey would point up and the the band would launch into a jam, holding an energy level with just subtle morphing while Chris Kuroda worked magic with the light board, transforming the whole stage and venue into his instrument. These were absolutely amazing in person but much of the point is lost on recordings.

[tigerstrat]

Some Phish jams are actually "light solos"... Trey would point up and the the band would launch into a jam, holding an energy level with just subtle morphing while Chris Kuroda worked magic with the light board, transforming the whole stage and venue into his instrument. These were absolutely amazing in person but much of the point is lost on recordings.

Big Ball Jam!