Oh yea! Medeski Martin & Wood team up with Dust Brother John King (Beastie's Paul's Boutique, Beck's ODelay, just to name a couple) to produce one big pile of deep groovin' fun(k): End of the World Party (Just In Case).
I've been listening to these guys since way back when I saw them perform "Chubb Subb" (from Friday Afternoon in the Universe) on some late night show (Dennis Miller? Conan?)
Over the years they've taken the organ/bass/drums sorta-jazz format and spun it into something pretty danged unique. More recently, they've been adopted by the jam band scene, causing some to dismiss them as just another group of hippie-pleasin' noodlers (and as much as I feel the urge to defend both hippies and noodling, now is not the time...maybe next week.) That's really too bad as MMW's jazz roots run deep. Proof? Check out Tonic, an improvised live set.
So no big epiphany for this week's Listen. I've just been sucked into the butt-shakin' grooves. Hey, it happens. Oh yea...and a couple of extra points for the appearance of guitar madman Marc Ribot on a few tracks.
(First posted on Mark Is Cranky)
Article comments
1 - Tom Johnson
I have to partially disagree on one point. They were definitely "hippie-pleasing noodlers" for a while They really lost me when they went all jam-band. Shackman was the last great album, followed by a couple pretty forgettably boring albums spent wooing the jamband scene (Combustication and The Dropper, but I also didn't care too much for Tonic either) and then started back on the right trail with Uninvisible. The new album, however . . . wow, what a blast! This is the direction they should have gone following Shackman, and it feels like they basically picked right up at that point. Damn glad I took a chance on this this week, as I was going to pass on it.
2 - Mark Saleski
i really like Combustication.
maybe i'm just a hippie noodler at heart.
Tonic is really more of a jazz album.
Uninvisible definitely headed off in the experimental direction.
i wondered what was going to happen with John King producing...and was pleasantly surprised.