Medeski-Martin-Wood

[Jazz Kat]

Jim, you recommended them to me. I heard some samples, and I'm gettin jazzed about them!

Got any certain albums to recommend?

[jazzypaul]

Jim, you recommended them to me. I heard some samples, and I'm gettin jazzed about them!

Got any certain albums to recommend?

damn near any album recorded by any other organist besides John Medeski.

[Jim Alfredson]

All of their stuff on Grammavision is great. "Shack Man", "Friday Afternoon in the Universe", etc. are a little more straight-ahead than where they've been going on Blue Note.

That said, Uninvisible is probably my favorite so far. I haven't had the chance to really dig into their latest, "End of the World Party". I also have "The Dropper" which is really wild... very avant garde and experimental. It needs to be digested in small doses.

I'd start with the Grammavision catalog.

[Jim Alfredson]

Jim, you recommended them to me. I heard some samples, and I'm gettin jazzed about them!

Got any certain albums to recommend?

damn near any album recorded by any other organist besides John Medeski.

I take it you don't like Medeski? I think he's brilliant.

[Jazz Kat]

I think you gotta listen with an open mind. Me listening to them 2 years ago? I wouldn't like them for shit. But I'm more open now with jazz. I have a Blue Note sampler from 2002, wasn't much organ showcase. Some sound effects. I dug it, allright.

[Sundog]

Check out John Scofield's A Go Go

[jazzypaul]

Jim, you recommended them to me. I heard some samples, and I'm gettin jazzed about them!

Got any certain albums to recommend?

damn near any album recorded by any other organist besides John Medeski.

I take it you don't like Medeski? I think he's brilliant.

I used to think he was. I used to think the world of that band. But, as I listen more closely, and after having seen them 4 times, they come off feeling more like schtick than anything else. The last time I saw them, to me, it really felt like a put on more than anything else.

And this is coming from someone that really knows and loves his funk, his jazz and his organ jazz in particular. The more I listen, the less they cut it with me.

But that's me.

[Jim Alfredson]

That's funny, Paul, because I'm the exact opposite. I heard about them for awhile and finally saw them at the H.O.R.D.E. festival one year (this was ages ago... probably like '96 or so). I enjoyed the show, but didn't really think much of it. It just didn't hit me.

Then I bought one of their records and my reaction was lukewarm. Then I saw them live again and it started to click.

Now I just think they are (Medeski in particular) brilliant. I haven't seen them live in a long time, something I'm hoping to fix.

[gslade]

That's interesting

I listened to one of their albums but was not too impressed

Maybe I will check them out at the Britt (live show's) This year, give them another chance

[Jazz Kat]

What do you remember about them live? How are they live?

[PHILLYQ]

Their latest disc, 'End of the World Party(Just in Case)' is excellent to my ears, deep groove all the way through. I just pick tunes at random and whatever I pick seems to work well.

[Jim Alfredson]

What do you remember about them live? How are they live?

They are fantastic live. I saw them once at the H.O.R.D.E. festival and once at the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival (much more intimate). Both were around the time Shack-Man was released. Medeski had a great rig both times: real grand piano, Hammond C3, clavinet, a Wurlizter electric piano, and various wah-wah's, distortion pedals, etc. Billy Martin had all sorts of cool percussion and that dude can lay in the pocket like no other.

If I remember right, the show started with Billy Martin coming out first and doing "spacey" percussion. Then he moved over to the kit and started throwing down some nasty groove. Then Wood came out and started laying in the cut. Finally Medeski came out and they launch into the tune. I do not remember what tune it was.

[Jazz Kat]

Martin was a big percussion man. He played percussion with Chuck Mangione from 1988-1991.

Medeski has been a big influence. My band has gotten a bassist so I no longer do the bass lines by myself. With that, it leaves me to do various stuff with piano and more instruments. I was into Soulive, but too much R&B on their Next album, and they don't have too many albums out. Their first disk was tremendous.

[Guy Berger]

What do you remember about them live? How are they live?

They're fun, though maybe a little repetitive. Definitely a band that you will enjoy in concert if you're really into them. It's funny to go to one of their concerts and see the crowd stare blankly during the more experimental/a-g sections, then go nuts as soon as they hit a tight groove.

I stopped paying attention to their studio albums after The Dropper, but I agree with Jim A that the best stuff is on the Gramavision albums. It's a Jungle in Here is the most downtownish, Shack Man totally electric and groove-oriented, and Friday Afternoon in the Universe (my favorite, probably) somewhere in the middle.

IMHO looking at these guys as an "organ trio" is the wrong way to go, BTW -- that's not what they're about.

We had a thread discussing them last year.

Guy

[Jazz Kat]

How long have they been with Blue Note?

[Guy Berger]

How long have they been with Blue Note?

Combustication came out in '97 or '98.

[scottb]

Check out John Scofield's A Go Go

I second that!

I also like their latest.

[Soul Stream]

To me, Shack Man is IT. The album that inspired a generation of copycats.

Edited May 18, 2005 by Soul Stream

[Man with the Golden Arm]

click hear!

edit for: now dat be some serious "schtick"! but i do agree that the last couple times i've seen them it has been just that. a bit too light on the grease for my liking.

i must recommend that an essential purchase be the piano album "notes from the underground" - newly re-mastered w/ an added track of blues grits. and the sound of the re-ish is fenomeenal.

Edited May 18, 2005 by Man with the Golden Arm

[Jim Alfredson]

I stopped paying attention to their studio albums after The Dropper, but I agree with Jim A that the best stuff is on the Gramavision albums.

I didn't say that was their best stuff, just that it's a good place to start. My favorite record of theirs so far is "Uninvisible" and I think "The Dropper" is extremely cool and interesting, just very very dense.

Overall I think their BN output leaves the other stuff in the dust, but it is all good. It's very interesting to hear their first record and then go in sequence up until their latest and hear how the band has evolved while staying true to the concept.

[sal]

I've been a fan for about 7 years. "Combustication" is my favorite, although I pretty much have liked everything they've recorded from "Shack Man" to present. Wasn't a fan of the first two "Its a Jungle In Here" and "Notes From the Underground". I like Medeski much more on the electric keys rather than piano, although that acoustic album "Tonic" is really nice.

Their new album is really tight. Kind of a throwback to the "Shack Man/Friday Afternoon in the Universe" days, but more mature.

Edited May 18, 2005 by sal

[sal]

Just another thing to add....I've been fortunate enough to see them in several live settings....acoustic trio, electric trio, with a horn section, and with guitarist Marc Ribot. Their live shows are excellent and I encourage every one who is a fan to try to check em out live.

[Man with the Golden Arm]

Nice little steel funk ditty from the Campbell Bros (?) here w/ some Medeski comping along.

Edited May 18, 2005 by Man with the Golden Arm

[jlhoots]

I'm not a big fan.

Sorry.

[Aggie87]

I'll second the Combustication recommendation, as well as Scofield's A Go Go. Sco and MMW made one helluva funky, greazy team on that album.

John Medeski has also been involved in some other recordings that may be worth checking out. Top of the list for me would be "The Word", teaming with Robert Randolph and the North Mississippi All Stars. He's also involved with Club d'Elf, having played on at least three of their live albums.