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Medeski Martin & Wood: Impulse and Improv |
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Written by Glenn BurnSilver
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Wednesday, 07 June 2006 |
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Page 1 of 2 
My son has very discerning taste in music, even though he’s only 10 months old. When I play Medeski Martin & Wood, he crawls over to the speaker and bobs his head and moves his arms like a dance-floor junkie.
“I heard kids like our music,” keyboardist John Medeski said by phone from New York City where the band is holed up with jazz guitarist John Scofield laying tracks for a new, as yet-untitled, album due out in the fall. MMW is also planning to release a children’s record around the same time, and some of that material is already finding a place in the band’s live shows.
“We play things off that (album), but we doctor it up for adults,” Medeski added with a laugh. “Music is good for kids … but most of it sucks. The idea of Raffi and stuff like that … playing down to children is kind of an insult.”
The idea of MMW playing down to anyone is about as remote as Pluto. The threesome, Medeski, drummer Billy Martin and bassist Chris Wood, have always followed their muse, creating innovative and genre-defying music that seemingly, at least live, comes from the ether. Like many of their concert jams, the new album with Scofield is based on improvisation, and from Medeski’s description, the sessions so far are again pushing musical boundaries.
“There’s a lot more improvisation on it. On the other record with him (Scofield’s funk-laden “A Go Go”) it had a certain feel because it was John’s music. This record is just wilder.” Medeski said. “It’s all of us, but you hear John playing a little differently then you would in other situations.”
That’s the refreshing nature of MMW. The band has experimented with deejays and segued in samples, while caressing the edges of funk, soul, groove jazz, hip-hop, gospel and blues. Of course, such musical tact affords these virtuosos the chance to run in any direction at a moment’s notice. MMW can just as easily ride a dirty bassline, funky backbeat or swollen organ chord to musical nirvana—or destruction.
“It has been like that since the first time we played, that’s why we’ve stayed together. … That’s what we like to do, and I think it is one of the things we do best as a band,” Medeski offered. “We make stuff up, come up with some musical impulse, and work with it and try to create a piece of music. … You have to go with what the imperials are offering you.”
In the case of their appearance at Mishawaka, the imperials are offering a night under the stars next to a wild and scenic river in the cool Colorado air—a prime setting for divine inspiration, something Medeski seeks with every performance.
“For me, it’s about getting to that place, arriving at that spot where it’s that illumination feeling you have,” he said. “That’s the whole point, to get there together.”
For band and fans alike.
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|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
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| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
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