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COPYRIGHT 2002 Las Vegas Review-Journal
BYLINE: DOUG ELFMAN, REVIEW-JOURNAL
Opera singer Beverly Sills once told Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio that America probably couldn't produce another Beverly Sills right now. The problem is, music education has just been plundered in school systems.
The pool of musically schooled adults is "so low, everyone wants to be like Britney (Spears)," Anastasio says. "Who can listen to opera? It's the dumbing down" of America.
Anastasio's bands have always fought against dumbing down. His own improvisational band Phish, which is on hiatus, has been pegged as a party jam band, but Phish also merges rock with complex, classically minded jazz structures.
This weekend, Anastasio -- who has a new self-titled album out -- performs with a 10-piece band (including five horn players) at the Thomas & Mack Center. He and his band are performing with other acts known for their improv chops: Los Lobos and Spearhead tonight, and the Roots and Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra on Saturday.
(After each show, starting at 11:30 p.m., another great improv rock band, Les Claypool's Frog Brigade, performs at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay.)
Anastasio says he wants his big band to seduce fans to dance and party. But deep down, the group's harmonies ought to be as complex as the rhythm section of King Sunny...
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