Trey Anastasio Band have announced a September 14th release date for TAB at the Tab, a collection of songs recorded live by at the legendary Tabernacle in Atlanta, will be released by Anastasio's Rubber Jungle Records. The album - recorded on February 27, 2010 - captures the band at the peak of its powers and includes live renditions of classic TAB songs and numerous new compositions.
Building on 2009's stripped-down four-piece lineup - lead guitarist/vocalist Anastasio, Russ Lawton (drums), Tony Markellis (bass) and Ray Paczkowski (keyboards) - TAB added horns back into the mix for its most recent foray. Longtime TAB members Russell Remington (tenor saxophone and flute) and Jennifer Hartswick (trumpet and vocals) were joined by newcomer Natalie Cressman (trombone and vocals), just 18 and on her first national tour. Natalie is the daughter of former band member Jeff Cressman.
"It's how I've always imagined this band," says Anastasio. "The goal was for a unified sound in the tradition of Bob Marley or King Sunny Ade, where the different instruments are really dancing with each other. And I think we achieved that."
Not only do the instruments dance with one another, the vocal harmonies are exquisite also. Anastasio, Hartswick and Cressman are a formidable combination, from the scintillating opener "Money, Love and Change" to the tender "Words to Wanda" (marking the song's first appearance on record). Tony Markellis joins in on vocals on fan favorite "Windora Bug," another song making its recording debut, and Hartswick delivers a blistering lead vocal on a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog."
The swampy "Alaska," a song first played on TAB's 2009 tour that has since crossed over to Phish's repertoire, is re-imagined with an exuberant horn arrangement written by Greg Adams, formerly of Tower of Power, and Don Hart, Anastasio's frequent collaborator, created horn arrangements for six tracks, including the new song "Valentine."
"Show of Life," a moving meditation on life's beauty and brevity, is a recent composition from Anastasio and Steve Pollak ("The Dude of Life").
"We met for lunch on the corner of 94th and Amsterdam on the Upper West Side and Steve showed up with a manila folder full of lyrics," recalls Anastasio. "I have the FourTrack app on my iPhone, which is like a little recording studio, so we each put one ear bud in and then we started singing into the microphone. We went out into the street and we're singing bass lines and there are people walking by - it's unbelievable. I hadn't written a song with Steve in quite a long time, so that was a real thrill."
Other highlights include early TAB classics "Sand" and "Drifting" plus the infrequently heard "Goodbye Head," a complex composition from Anastasio's Bar 17.
The track listing for TAB at the Tab is as follows:
1. Money, Love and Change
2. Words to Wanda
3. Alaska
4. Valentine
5. Sand
6. Windora Bug
7. Drifting
8. Goodbye Head
9. Show of Life
10. Black Dog
