Phish

Spawned at the University of Vermont, Phish became a Northeast phenomenon in the late '80s thanks to their intoxicating onstage jams, built on the Grateful Dead's improvisational legacy, but with a pronounced lean towards jazz rather than rewired folk. Wildly eclectic and gifted with a keen sense of the absurd, Phish took risks while working without a net, and built up a still-strong Phish nation of devoted followers — a.k.a. phans, phfriends, and phamily. Immerse yourself in the band's genius here with opening selections from the studio albums Hoist and Billy Breathes.

Phish fed on the devotion of their fanatical fans and gave back immeasurably . . . and there's more in Next Steps.

Phish frontman Trey Anastasio set his group's tone with an ability to deftly blend instrumental wizardry with his quirky lyrical outlook. His led his bandmates on plunges into the musical unknown, surfacing with a huge number of original tunes — he gets a solo credit on many of the 150-plus Phish tunes on which his name appears. Variety, as ever, is the guiding Phish principle here, as we weave a whimsical path from the piano-led "Guyute," from funky 1998 release The Story of the Ghost, to the rustically rockin' title track from 1993 concept album Rift.

The band discovers its inner Elvis, and its latent Chuck Berry, in Deep Cuts.

In their creative migrations, Phish passed through funk, folk, avant-garde jazz and roots-rock phases . . . often during a single jam. By the time of 2004's (non-binding) disbandment, they had left behind a staggering cache of esoterica, and no Phish overview would be complete without a large selection from the Live Phish album series, 27 releases in all, spanning venues nationwide from Portland Meadows to the Sugarbush Summerstage in Vermont. Here we've picked out a couple of standout live covers: a 1995 Madison Square Garden version of "Johnny B. Goode" and a Vegas-based homage to the King from '96, "Suspicious Minds."

Phish's dominance of the neo-hippie jam scene has held their steadfast legion of devotees spellbound for two-plus decades — no group since the Grateful Dead can rival the University of Vermont alumni for improvisational pyrotechnics. Singer-guitarist Trey Anastasio and his bandmates have ridden successive tides of freewheeling inspiration through one hiatus and a fully-fledged disbandment, shifting from jazz to funk to bluegrass with giddy virtuosity. Despite the band's 2004 breakup, three reunion shows in March 2009 paved the way for a summer tour, while new studio work confirmed that Phish is very much an ongoing concern. Join the phollowing.