The conference, which will take place in Oregon State’s Memorial Union, will include more than 50 presentations from researchers from more than 20 states and Canada. Presentation titles include: “Phish’s Improvisation in Light of Talmudic Scholastic Practice,” “‘This Your First Show?’: White Racism and Subcultural Capital in the Phish Community” and “The Neuroscience of the Jam: A research paradigm to study brain inactivity underlying improvisation in Phish.”

On Wednesday night, Trey Anastasio brought his newest side project, Ghosts of the Forest, to the Orpheum Theatre in Boston. Promoting the band's self-titled album that would be released two days later, Anastasio performed 21 songs, most of them written after the passing of his dear friend Chris "CCott" Cottrell, who had passed away from cancer prior to the songs being written.

Phish’s WaterWheel Foundation and The Mimi Fishman Foundation have joined forces in an on-line charity auction.  The auction features tickets for Phish’s 2019 Summer Tour, including sold out shows.  The auction is now available for bidding and comes to a conclusion April 25, 2019.

Wolf Brothers, consisting of Weir on guitar and vocals, Don Was on standup bass and Jay Lane on Drums, played a 1st set consisting of a mix of classic Grateful Dead songs including "Friend of the Devil” and “Althea" along with covers of Bob Dylan’s "When I Paint My Masterpiece" and Daniel Lanois' “The Maker” as well as a pair of Weir's solo and sideband (RatDog) in “Gonesville” and "Bombs Away” respectively. The first set ended with Barlow/Weir’s "Lost Sailor” segueing into “Saint of Circumstance.”

Sadly, I believe this is what most people think of when they think of jazz. A bunch of loud instruments trying to drive you mad through cacophony. This is unfortunate and the sentiment is misguided. Jazz, to me, is a concept about how music, especially “live” music, can be played. A concept that promotes a mostly unscripted, free flowing exchange of sounds and ideas. A formula that elevates originality over predictability. In other words, jazz is all about improvisation, spontaneity, and taking chances. Certainly, there are cases when the formula fails, but when the stars align, jazz can lead to most beautiful, meaningful, and redeeming music you will ever hear. It’s really an approach to music and spans a wide spectrum of the musical landscape, from bluegrass to rock n’ roll to the more textbook definition of jazz, including blues, bebop, and hardbop. Bands and artists – to name a few -that live or lived by this jazz ethos include Miles Davis, The Grateful Dead, John Coltrane, The Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Steve Kimock, and Phish.