@TwiceBitten said:

@wforwumbo said:

@HarborSeal said:

Man, the jam on the tail end of that Drowned is gorgeous. No jam chart love?

Honestly, most of Phish's best jams (in my opinion) aren't charted.

I wouldn't go so far as to say most but there are definitely hundreds of great jams not on the charts.

Yes, but there is a treasure trove of phenomenal versions of songs that aren't charted throughout the catalog. For example, let's look at my favorite jam vehicle - Bathtub Gin. While a few of my top 10 are charted (9/22/99, 7/20/98, 7/25/97), there's an equally large number of what in my opinion are glaring omissions (11/4/98, 8/9/98, 6/30/99, 8/16/98, 6/10/00); meanwhile, other versions I'd put below these omissions are charted (12/7/99, 11/20/98, 8/26/16... and so on). Moving on to my second-favorite jam vehicle, Ghost has a similar thing going on where some stellar versions are charted - though not always recommended (7/23/99 which is my favorite jam, 8/2/98, 7/30/99, 7/19/16), and other gems (mostly 3.0 - 12/31/12, 10/25/13, 6/4/09, 10/19/13, 6/9/09, 8/14/09) are uncharted; this is compounded by other versions of Ghost that I'd put below the versions I just mentioned existing on the chart above these (10/15/98, 7/8/16, 12/11/99, 8/26/16, 7/1/12, 8/7/15, 8/16/97, 7/26/14, 11/28/09... you get the idea). Note I'm not saying that the charted jams I've just mentioned aren't bad, I just think if they're on, there are others that DO deserve to be on the charts in addition.

The patterns I've mentioned above hold for most of my favorite jam vehicles and jams as a whole.

Now all this being said, I'm not sure I'd really change the jam charts as a whole. For one thing, Phish's music is so subjective, it's hard to pin down what exactly does or does not make a version jam-chart-worthy, let alone notable or highly recommended. I mean, that's not even to discuss what style of jamming people may prefer - do you want chaotic and frenzied and high-energy? Funktastic or plinko dance party? Goopy, grimy, dark, and dissonant? Space jazz? My personal favorite - swirly, melty, psychedelic, modal bliss heaven? Another form of jamming I haven't mentioned? At the end of the day the jam charts are a decent jumping-off-point if you want to explore a song, a tour, a year, or a jamming style. For another, I HIGHLY respect the work of the stewards of the jam charts - it seems like a lot of work to compile, annotate, and continuously update. As a third point, to me it also adds to the allure of discovering a truly deep jam that's off-the-beaten-path - while this isn't necessary for a jam to be amazing, in my opinion it's nice to add another page in my personal catalog of jams that isn't well-known and over-discussed.