Trey’s first official side project from Phish found him exploring free jazz. Surrender to the Air was a colorful exploration of sound, texture and space, featuring long sections of free group improvisation connected by short segments conducted by Trey. The group produced one studio album released in March of 1996 followed by two live performances at the Academy in New York City on April 1st and 2nd, 1996.
In Trey’s words: "It was very loose. Everybody was just set up in the room, and you'd just come and go as you please. Sometimes it broke down to just two people. Most of the session was spent doing free stuff. [But, he adds,] The sound I wanted was free form and the structure I wanted was structure. It was basically a matter of figuring how to get both of those things. The problem that I don't like about most free-form things is that it meanders. And to my ear, this doesn't meander; it has direction all the time. It keeps going down a course."
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