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Music fans are coming to know Vida Blue as an adventurous trio fronted by Phish keyboardist Page McConnell. Making the most of his time while on hiatus from Phish, McConnell has recruited a Hall of Fame-caliber rhythm section - Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brothers Band, Aquarium Rescue Unit) and drummer Russell Batiste (the Meters) - for this atmospheric jazz - and funk-flavored project. On their self-titled debut album, Vida Blue explores textures and grooves that sound like nothing you've ever heard.
The trio cut tracks and jammed for a week at Piety Street Recording, a brand-new studio in New Orleans' Ninth Ward. McConnell subsequently added instrumental overdubs and vocals back home in Vermont. He didn't approach the project with an agenda beyond his intention to focus more on synthesizer, organ and electric piano than the grand piano that had been a signature part of his playing with Phish. In terms of sonics, the principal inspiration for Vida Blue's first studio foray was "some of the stuff Miles Davis and his keyboardists did with the Fender Rhodes electric piano circa Jack Johnson, In A Silent Way and Get Up With It. The texture of the Rhodes, the sound of the drums — it opens up in all sorts of ways."
