JAZZ JAM BANDS
Combustication
Amazon.com’s Best of 1998The rather plainly named Medeski Martin & Wood have almost single-handedly returned the spotlight to the more out-there fusion between bop jazz and on-the-one funky rock music. Wheezing and huffing behind a bank of old-school keyboards, Medeski Martin & Wood plow into their songs with abandon. The drums of Billy Martin... »
Last Chance to Dance Trance : Best of 1991-1996
Amazon.comIt’s really no wonder the trio of John Medeski, Billy Martin, and Chris Wood hit it big with the improv-rock crew. Their grooves are impeccable and strong, at once taut and fully limber. And this collection shows that MMW knew their grooves even on their minor-splash debut, Notes from the Underground in the early... »
Live in America
Amazon.comOne benefit of the declining costs of CD manufacture is the more common release of music with only a niche market; for example, fans of virtuoso electric bass–that is to say, Victor Wooten fans. The downside is that more and more often, artists, unconstrained by high production costs, feel free to put out even... »
Friday Afternoon in the Universe
Amazon.comThey may attract Sufi-dancing Deadheads to their rock-club shows and they may have connections to lower Manhattan’s art-music scene, but when you get right down to it, Medeski Martin & Wood are just a jazz organ trio. Organist John Medeski, drummer Billy Martin, and bassist Chris Wood don’t work a whole lot differently from... »
That’s What I Say: John Scofield Plays the Music of Ray Charles
Album DescriptionThat’s What I Say, pays tribute to the legendary Ray Charles. It ranges from lesser-known Charles gems to some of his most signature tunes. Scofield crafts each tune in his own distinctive style, putting his indelible stamp on every performance.Amazon.comAlthough sure to be criticized for cashing in on the Ray Charles bandwagon, jazzman... »
It’s a Jungle in Here
Amazon.comPouring their jazz out of a postmodern blender, Medeski Martin & Wood reference Sly Stone, King Sunny Ade and John Coltrane on the same album; Thelonious Monk and Bob Marley in the same song (“Bemsha Swing-Lively Up Yourself”). And it works: By turn funky (“Beeah,” “Shuck It Up”) and avant garde (“Worms”), thoughtful (“Moti... »
Blue Light Rain
Amazon.comJazz isn’t really dead, it’s just looking back at the songbook and spirit of America’s favorite jam band, the Grateful Dead. Featuring an all-star cast of instrumentalists including drummer Billy Cobham, bassist Alfonso Johnson, guitarist Jimmy Herring, and keyboardist T Lavitz, Jazz Is Dead reconstructs the Dead’s songbook into a showcase for jazz-rock-fusion virtuosos.... »