Surrender to the Air

{{Short description|American jazz ensemble}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Surrender to the Air

| image = STTA.jpg

| caption = Surrender to the Air in 1996

| image_size =

| background = group_or_band

| origin = Burlington, Vermont, USA

| genre = Free jazz

| years_active = 1996

| label = Elektra

| associated_acts = Phish, Sun Ra, Medeski Martin and Wood, Aquarium Rescue Unit

| website =

| past_members = Trey Anastasio
Marshall Allen
Damon R. Choice
Marc Ribot
John Medeski
Michael Ray
James Harvey
Jon Fishman
Oteil Burbridge
Kofi Burbridge
Bob Gullotti

}}

Surrender to the Air was a free jazz ensemble led by Trey Anastasio of Phish that included Marshall Allen, Damon Choice, and Michael Ray of the Sun Ra Orchestra, John Medeski, Marc Ribot, Oteil Burbridge, Jon Fishman, and several other musicians.{{cite book |last=Gehr |first=Richard |title=The Phish Book |publisher=Villard |year=1998 |pages=53 }}{{cite encyclopedia |last=Porter |first=Todd S. |encyclopedia=Free Jazz and Free Improvisation: An Encyclopedia |title=The Path to Freedom |date=2001 |publisher=Greenwood Press |volume=2 |pages=xiii}}

The group performed two concerts at the Academy of Music In New York City in April 1996 and disbanded shortly thereafter.{{cite magazine |last=Norris |first=Chris |date=April 1, 1996 |title=The Last Mosh |magazine=New York Magazine |pages=97}}{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/04/arts/pop-review-a-phish-70-s-funk-and-a-band-built-to-jam.html |title=Pop Review: A Phish, 70's Funk And a Band Built to Jam |first=Peter |last=Watrous |date=April 4, 1996 |website=The New York Times |access-date=September 29, 2022}}{{cite magazine |last=Macnie |first=Jim |date=March 9, 1996 |title=Phish Phenom Airs Jazz on Elektra |magazine=Billboard |pages=100}} The concerts, like the group's sole album, consisted of completely improvised music.{{cite web |url=https://www.jambase.com/article/twenty-years-later-trey-anastasio-presents-surrender-air |title=Twenty Years Later: Trey Anastasio Presents Surrender To The Air |first=Scott |last=Bernstein |date=April 1, 2016 |website=JamBase |access-date=September 29, 2022}}{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/surrender-to-the-air-mw0000185515 |title=Surrender to the Air: Surrender to the Air |first=Stephen Thomas |last=Erlewine |website=AllMusic |access-date=September 29, 2022}}

Around the time of the group's formation, Anastasio mentioned in interviews that he based the ensemble around Sun Ra's free jazz ensembles of the mid-twentieth century. "A lot of times, I think he was the pinnacle," said Anastasio. "He was as good as it got. His values remained pure for his entire life, and there's something to be said for that."{{cite web |url=https://www.popmatters.com/sun-ra-arkestra-marshall-allen-2639135059.html |title=Space is Still the Place for Marshall Allen and the Sun Ra Arkestra |first=Greg M. |last=Schwartz |date=July 11, 2019 |website=PopMatters |access-date=September 29, 2022}}