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| 4.401 Ft
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| 1. | First Light
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| 2. | Cloud Wars
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| 3. | Muchas Gracias
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| 4. | Professor Nohair
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| 5. | Reliquary
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| 6. | Free Go Lily
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| 7. | Rolling Son
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| 8. | Sweet Pea Dreams
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| 9. | God Fire
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| 10. | Hidden Moon
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Jazz
Medeski, Martin & Wood - Arranger, Producer
Billy Martin - Drums
Billy Martin & Socket - Drums
Chris Wood - Bass, Guitar
John Medeski - Keyboards
* Alan Silverman - Mastering
* Carmel Holt - Art Direction, Design, Layout Design
* David Kent - Engineer, Mixing
* David Perry - Art Direction, Design, Layout Design
* Ernst Haeckel - Illustrations
* Jed Kosiner - Assistant Engineer, Mixing Assistant
Medeski, Martin & Wood have been incorporating seemingly every corner of the musical universe, from funk to gospel to progressive sambas, into their sound for some time now, so it should come as no surprise that Radiolarians 1, the first of three planned and linked releases for the group in 2008, is all over the map, from country funk to sweet piano jazz, and that it coheres (since there are occasions when the band overloads and overreaches, although that isn't the case here) is really good news for their many admirers and fans. With a bright, and at times even sunny and joyous, sound, this first of the planned trilogy is a complete delight, moving from thundering fusion funk grooves to delicate atmospherics in the blink of an eye, and it shows the tight, detailed connection keyboardist John Medeski, drummer Billy Martin, and bassist Chris Wood have with each other. There's so much to like here, including the gut-bucket soul-jazz bounce of "Sweet Pea Dreams," the spooky atmospherics of "Muchas Gracias" (which sounds like Augustus Pablo thrown in a dub blender with Thelonious Monk), the skewed, New Orleans piano of "Professor Nohair," and the deliciously fractured and delightful turn the trio takes on the traditional "Free Go Lily." It's all joyous and filled with graceful touches of humor and elegance, all the while churning to both big and little grooves, stomping, skating and skipping lightly by turns, and it reminds just how remarkably well these three musicians work together, making, as they say, improvisation fun again.
---Steve Leggett, All Music Guide
Medeski, Martin & Wood
Active Decades: '90s and '00s
Born: 1992
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Jazz-Funk, Soul-Jazz, Post-Bop, Jam Bands
A group that effortlessly straddles the gap between avant-garde improvisation and accessible groove-based jazz, Medeski, Martin, & Wood have simultaneously earned standings as relentlessly innovative musicians and an enormously popular act. Emerging out of the New York downtown scene in the early '90s, the group soon set out on endless cross-country tours, before returning home to Manhattan to further refine their sound through myriad influential experimentations.
Each of the musicians -- keyboardist John Medeski, drummer/percussionist Billy Martin, and bassist Chris Wood -- crossed paths throughout the '80s, playing with the likes of John Lurie, John Zorn, and Martin mentor Bob Moses. In 1991, the trio officially convened for an engagement at New York's Village Gate. Soon, the group was rehearsing in Martin's loft, writing, and soon recording 1992's self-released Notes From the Underground. As the group began to tour, escaping the supportive, though insular, New York music community, Medeski -- a former child prodigy -- switched to a Hammond B-3 organ, an instrument far easier to travel with than a grand piano.
Grammavision released It's a Jungle in Here in 1993, which featured horn arrangements by future Sex Mob founder (and pan-scenester) Steven Bernstein. The medley of Thelonius Monk's "Bemsha Swing" and Bob Marley's "Lively Up Yourself" spoke volumes about what the band was attempting to accomplish. Friday Afternoon in the Universe, widely considered the band's breakthrough record, further continued the push toward groove-oriented accessibility, a movement which peaked with the group's 1996 Rykodisc debut, Shack-man (recorded entirely in the band's practice shack in the Maui jungle). By 1996, through a combination of endless touring and two widely circulated live collaborations with Phish, the group caught in the burgeoning jam band scene, where they continue to draw the bulk of their audience outside of New York.
Late in 1996, the group began a public return their avant-garde roots, hosting a series of weekly "Shack Parties" at New York's Knitting Factory, which featured collaborations with many musicians, including Vernon Reid and DJ Logic, who would soon become the group's unofficial fourth member. The trio issued the extremely free (and utterly beautiful) Farmer's Reserve on their own Indirecto imprint in 1997, a series of improvisations recorded at the Shack. Logic soon joined the band on the road, and they prepared to record Combustication, their first effort for Blue Note, as well as their first full-length collaboration with producer Scott Harding.
In 2000, the band made their coming-out as leaders with two releases -- the live acoustic Tonic (recorded at the New York City club of the same name), as well as the electric The Dropper (recorded at the band's newly christened Shacklyn Studios in the trendy DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn) -- as well as an acclaimed Halloween performance at Manhattan's Beacon Theater. The Dropper featured Harding's gritty production, as well as appearances by Sun Ra alum Marshall Allen. In 2006, the group released Out Louder, an album that saw them collaborate with John Scofield. Their music was also featured on Grey's Anatomy. Radiolatians 1, the first of three loosely linked albums, appeared in the fall of 2008 on the group's own Indirecto Records imprint.
The band's reputation has achieved massive proportions. As they always have, the three core bandmembers contributed to numerous other recording projects, both as sidemen and leaders. Increasingly, their word was gold and their efforts carved paths for musicians to follow. Following their rise, for example, was a renaissance in B-3-based organ trios. Many groups had played with DJs before them, but their performances with Logic made it downright fashionable. Though they were -- and are -- considered "alternative" jazz, they were drawing larger audiences than many of their mainstream counterparts.
--- Jesse Jarnow, All Music Guide |
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