Medeski, Martin & Wood

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Medeski, Martin & Wood
Medeski Martin & Wood.jpg
General information
origin United States
Genre (s) Jazz , fusion jazz , jazz radio , free jazz , soul jazz , post-bop , acid jazz
founding 1991
Website http://www.mmw.net
Founding members
Keyboard
 John Medeski
Drums
 Billy Martin
bass
 Chris Wood

Medeski Martin & Wood (MMW) is an American jazz trio founded in 1991 under the name Coltrane's Wig . It consists of John Medeski ( keyboards ), Billy Martin ( drums ) and Chris Wood ( bass ).

history

In 1990, John Medeski and Chris Wood met on a tour of their mutual friend Bob Moses through Israel . Moses was also previously mentor to drummer Billy Martin, whom he introduced to Medeski and Wood after the tour.

The first appearances in the renowned New York jazz club Village Gate were followed by further gigs in the old Knitting Factory , which was still on Houston Street until 1994 and knew how to break (supposedly) narrow categories such as jazz or rock quite early on . The music magazine Rolling Stone described the club in 1991 as a "synonym for new music". In this respect, the place fits the music of Medeski, Martin and Wood, which eluded any further definition: “We do something like jazz by being an instrumental group, but we definitely don't play swinging jazz. We groove . ”(Medeski) Initially, the three musicians performed under the name Coltrane's Wig . A short time later they discarded this name and have since performed as Medeski, Martin & Wood.

They began touring through the USA in a self-organized manner and took Pat Metheny as an example : They traveled the country in a VW bus , played in rock clubs, cafés and wherever they were allowed to play. In this way they once again broke the boundaries of the established jazz business, but at the same time opened up a new audience.

MMW recorded their debut album Notes From the Underground in the months after the tour and released it on the indie label Hap Jones. The first contract with Gramavision followed a year later ; the album It's a Jungle in Here produced by Jim Payne was released. After their fourth and best-selling album ( Shack-man , named after the tree house in the forests of Hawaii , where they recorded the album) and other gigs in the Knitting Factory (the legendary "Shack Parties") MMW finally switched to the renowned label Blue Note Records .

In addition to a collaboration with John Scofield , with whom they had recorded his album A Gogo in 1998 , Out Louder (released in 2006 under the name Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood), the three musicians published the anthology Note Bleu , a collection, in the same year from her previous six albums on Blue Note Records .

Discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Combustication
  US 174 08/29/1998 (1 week)
Uninvisible
  US 169 04/27/2002 (1 week)
End of the World Party (Just in Case)
  US 162 09/25/2004 (1 week)
Out Louder (with John Scofield )
  US 188 10/14/2006 (1 week)
  • Notes from the Underground , Accurate Records , 1992 (with Thomas Chapin, among others )
  • It's a Jungle in Here , 1993
  • Friday Afternoon in the Universe , 1995
  • Shack-man , 1996
  • Farmer's Reserve , 1997
  • Bubblehouse , 1997 (partially remixes; Dracula remix with John Zorn )
  • John Scofield A Go Go , 1998
  • Combustication , 1998
  • Combustication Remixes , 1999
  • Last Chance to Dance Trance (Perhaps) , 1999 (compilation of early pieces from 1991 to 1996 and live recordings)
  • Tonic , 2000
  • The Dropper , 2000
  • Electric Tonic , 2001
  • Uninvisible , 2002
  • End Of The World Party (Just in Case) , 2004
  • Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood: Out Louder , 2006
  • Note Bleu - Best of the Blue Note Years 1998-2005 , 2006 (anthology of the six Blue Note Records albums to date )
  • Let's Go Everywhere , 2008 (with children's music)
  • Zaebos: The Book of Angels Volume 11 , 2008 (compositions from John Zorn's Book of Angels )
  • Radiolarians , 2008–2009 (Vols. I, II, III)
  • The Stone: Issue Four , 2010 (from a charity series for the benefit of The Stone club )
  • Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood: In Case The World Changes Its Mind , 2011
  • Free Magic , 2012 (Indirecto Records)
  • Woodstock Sessions, Vol. 2 , 2014 (with Nels Cline )
  • Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood: Juice , 2014
  • Medeski Martin & Wood with Alarm Will Sound: Omnisphere (Indirecto, 2018)

literature

  • Ian Carr: John Medeski. In: Ian Carr , Digby Fairweather , Brian Priestley : Rough Guide Jazz. The ultimate guide to jazz. 1800 bands and artists from the beginning until today. 2nd, expanded and updated edition. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2004, ISBN 3-476-01892-X , p. 464.
  • Gary Kennedy: John Medeski. In: Kernfeld, Barry (ed.): The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz 2nd edition. Vol. II, London 2002, p. 741.
  • Martin Kunzler : Jazz Lexicon. Volume 2: M – Z (= rororo-Sachbuch. Vol. 16513). 2nd Edition. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-499-16513-9 , p. 846.

swell

  1. ↑ Jazz Lexicon . Vol. II, 2002, p. 846.
  2. ↑ Medeski, Martin & Wood in the US charts (Billboard)

Web links