Trey Anastasio's The Horseshoe Curve is a collection of cuts taken off the shelf as a stopgap between the guitarist's "real" albums -- at release time, Anastasio was in the fourth month of a court-ordered yearlong drug rehab program. It's too bad in a sense, because it's such a dazzling recording, taken from a period between 2002-2004 when he was touring and recording with this woolly mammoth of a band; it's also far above the level of the two recordings he released during that period: Shine (2005) and Bar 17 (2006). A pair of these cuts, The 5th Round and the title track, were taken from a live gig in Pittsburgh. The rest of the set was done in a studio, and beginning with the burning bubbler Sidewalks of San Francisco that kicks things off (with a smoking little flute break that counters the heavy organ and snare backbeat on the tune, and feels as if it came from a Traffic live date), one wonders for the love of Pete why he shelved it. Anastasio doesn't wail and whomp with his knottier-than-Gordian guitar licks here. He leaves that to a weighted horn section that includes Peter Apfelbaum, Andy Moroz, Dave Grippo, Jen Hartswick, and a rhythm section that includes bassist Tony Markellis, Ray Paczkowski on keys, drummer Russ Lawton, and famed N.Y.C. downtown scene percussionist Cyro Baptista. Musically, the sounds are based on the heavy horn charts of Afro-beat, burning Latin salsa, and J.B.'s-style funk. Add to this the wanton bass throb of Markellis, who could have played with Herbie Hancock's Headhunters or Miles Davis' On the Corner band (he's got both the sophistication and the dead-on inner guidance groove system in place), and what you have is a lethal combination of groove and deadly jazz-funk.

1		Sidewalks of San Francisco
2		Olivia
3		Burlap Sack and Pumps
4		The 5th Round
5		The Horseshoe Curve
6		Noodle Rave
7		Tube Top Tony
8		Porters Pyramids

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