Home Read Classic Album Review: Medeski, Martin & Wood | Tonic

Classic Album Review: Medeski, Martin & Wood | Tonic

This came out in 2000 — or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):

 


Although best known as organ-jazz funketeers, New York’s Medeski, Martin & Wood reportedly started out as a piano-led trio — but the organ was just easier to cart around on tour.

Now that they presumably can pay roadies to hoist the baby grand, MMW have stripped away the fatback and returned to their original configuration for live gigs, including this enticing set taped at N.Y.C.’s Tonic club. But while the instruments are traditional, their approach isn’t — as their mournful, dirgey version of Hey Joe makes wonderfully clear. For the most part, though, this eight-song set switches between new originals and classic covers like John Coltrane’s Your Lady and Bud Powell’s Buster Rides Again. Frankly, it’s tough to tell the diff — Medeski’s stabbing chords and tinkling melodies, not to mention the lumpy, churning post-bop of the rhythm section, give everything a lean, muscular flavour that goes perfectly with a glass of scotch and a smoke. Even unplugged, these guys are electrifying.