Medeski, Martin & Wood: Free Magic - LIVE (2012)

It's hard to believe that after more than two decades together, Medeski, Martin & Wood haven't released an acoustic trio album. Free Magic remedies that. The set was recorded during their 2007 acoustic tour. There are five tunes in this hour-plus set; four are originals. Chris Wood's "Doppler" (a studio version appeared on 20 [available on iTunes]) commences as a rhythmic improv with Billy Martin playing balafon (an African cousin to the xylophone) with John Medeski on a toy piano and a melodica, and Wood bowing his upright. The pace gradually increases before a rhythmically repetitive motif introduces itself. After vamping on for a minute, the track shifts gears and becomes a jumping, funky, soul-jazz piano trio tune that suggests, in equal parts, the Impulse-era trios of Ahmad Jamal, and Les McCann's and Ramsey Lewis' mid-'60s groove fests. "Blues for Another Day" begins as a muscular improvisation with that suggests the harmonic nuances of Jaki Byard and the large block chord architectures of Andrew Hill before it just stops. It restarts as a shimmering, droning blues that builds in intensity; Wood's 3/4 walking on the riff asserts force. Medeski's bright gospel chops intersperse with hard bop as Martin double-, then triple-times the band, with constant motion on the ride cymbal. While the prepared piano in the title track ushers in a percussion improv -- even Wood's bass feels played like a drum -- it eventually gives way to "Ballade in C Minor, 'Vergesseene Seelen'," that evokes the feeling of an Asian folk tune before Wood's Hofner violin bass offers greater contrast, alternating Middle Eastern scalar and Western rock figures. Martin's shuffle pushes him along in assent and Medeski accents the spaces. "Where's Sly" is pure jazz piano magic that moves through various labyrinthine corridors of harmonic dialogue via lyric and rhythmic invention to become its own post-bop move. The closer is a hard-swinging medley of Charles Mingus' "Nostalgia in Times Square" and Sun Ra's "Angel Race." MMW build a solid bridge between the tunes with a Latin groove, making them natural hard bopping companions in the vanguard. Free Magic is more than just another listing in the MMW's CV; it's a document which reveals that at the heart of all the electronically driven funk, groove, and experimentation, these cats are all superior jazz musicians who not only understand the history and vocabulary of the piano trio, but also move it forward into startling new territory.

Tracklist:
1. Doppler
2. Blues For Another Day
3. Free Magic/Ballade In C Minor, ‘Vergessene Seelen’
4. Where’s Sly?
5. Nostalgia In Times Square/Angel Race
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Medeski, Martin & Wood: 20 (2011)

Each month during 2011, MMW released new, never-released tracks, for a total of 20 tracks to celebrate their 20th anniversary.

Tracklist:
1. Me2
2. Shackman
3. Synesthesia
4. Down On Me
5. Born On A Bus
6. Tiznit Stomp
7. Fuck You Guys (first take)
8. Box Car Lullabye
9. Make Room For Another (mix by DJ Olive)
10. Last of a Kind (mix by DJ Olive)
11. Aquila the Hu
12. Doppler
13. Silk
14. Stubborn Comfort
15. Seashack
16. Nuba
17. Palo Santo
18. Illmoan
19. Mean Irene
20. Floodwaters
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Mesedski, Scofield, Martin, Wood: Live - In Case the World Changes its Mind (2011)

With significant pressure on artists to look for new territory to mine and new collaborations to explore, it’s always great to see those that have worked well kept as ongoing concerns, like guitarist John Scofield‘s first-encounter with jam band darlings Medeski, Martin & Wood on the superb A Go Go (Verve, 1998). The now-named Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood still reconvenes occasionally, with its follow-up, Out Louder (Indirecto, 2006), a more free-wheeling alternative to its predecessor’s focus on Scofield’s particularly fine writing. Five years later, In Case The World Changes Its Mind strikes the perfect balance between form and freedom. Recorded on tour in 2006, while some of the same songs also appear on the European double-disc version of Out Louder, they’re different versions. If that bonus, EP-length live disc gave fans a taste of MSMW in performance, then In Case The World Changes Its Mind is the real deal, its groove-laden, 115-minute set of 11 tunes equitably split between MSMW’s two studio discs, with an extended jam thrown in for good measure, along with a gospel-drenched version of “Amazing Grace.”

Scofield may be working his softer side lately on his relaxed A Moment’s Peace (EmArcy, 2011), but he’s in incendiary form here, in particular on a searing version of “Miles Behind,” where his wah-driven guitar goes head-to-head with John Medeski‘s grittily overdriven electric piano, bolstered by a nuclear groove from bassist Chris Wood and drummer Billy Martin that seems always on the edge of a precipice—threatening to dissolve into complete anarchy at times, but always pulled back from the brink at the last possible moment. Medeski’s piano also drives the greasier title track, though he mixes it up with a melodica in the front line with Scofield, who’s featured in an extended duo with the second line-informed Martin, the guitarist’s complex voicings and angular phrases leading to some visceral slide playing. Both these songs from Out Louder are considerably expanded in length here; exemplifying one of MSMW’s major MOs: taking ideas stemming from jams and turning them into tunes.

The material from A Go Go is given equal chance to expand, in particular the 11-minute set-closer, “Hottentot,” where Medeski’s swirling organ work is at its best, though his remarkable command over tone and texture—an analog fan’s wet dream—is a cornerstones throughout. A Go Go‘s title track is equally compelling, while a medley of that album’s “Deadzy” and Out Louder‘s “What Now” blends idiosyncrasy with straightforward boogie to great effect.

But the centerpiece of In Case The World Changes Its Mind is the 25-minute “Walter Hanuman,” starting with a sprawling N’awlins jam that takes its good time getting to the core of Out Louder‘s “Hanuman,” stretching inexorably towards a fiery climax, only to wind down with an extended outro defined by Medeski’s mad-scientist synth and Scofield’s reverse-attack loops. MSMW may only convene occasionally, but with MMW driving Scofield to places he’d never find otherwise, and the guitarist lending MMW a stronger compositional focus, it’s the perfect combination, with the whole of In Case The World Changes Its Mind clearly greater than the sum of its considerable parts.

Tracklist:

Disc 1:
1. A Go Go
2. Deadzy
3. What Now
4. Tootie Ma Is a Big Fine Thing
5. Cachaca
6. In Case the World Changes It’s Mind
7. Miles Behind

Disc 2:

1. Little Walter Rides Again
2. Hanuman
3. Amazing Grace
4. Southern Pacific
5. Hottentot

Personnel: John Medeski: keyboards; John Scofield: guitar; Billy Martin: basses; Chris Wood: drums, percussion.

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