The Illustrated Band is the second album from Vida Blue, featuring Phish keyboardist Page McConnell along with bassist Oteil Burbridge and drummer Russell Batiste.

The album features four long tracks performed alongside The Spam Allstars, a Grammy-winning Afro-Cuban group that also toured as a part of the Vida Blue band in the summer of 2003 and the early winter of 2004.

Shortly after the tour, Page McConnell briefly retired from the music business following the breakup of Phish, therefore ending all Vida Blue related activities indefinitely.

"[2] Writing for Rolling Stone, Greg Heller called the album a "surprisingly satisfying and super-charged chunk of mo' ritmo funk," and described the four tracks as "a living breathing fusion of astral jazz and Latin beats, none remotely bound to structure."

"[3] John Anderson of the Miami New Times described the album as "The Spam Allstars jam[ming] with an amazing rhythm section behind them... it's a lot of fun and a natural collaboration.