MMW @ The Egg
I had the pleasure of seeing MMW at The Egg in Albany, NY tonight. This is the second time I saw them perform in that venue. They started the show by simply walking on and playing a long introductory improv piece that set the mood for the rest of the show. Images of busy streets, golden roads, silver linings, purple robes, mudslides, torrents, lizards, latin dancers and funny looking frogs filled my head. I realized that there is something very Joycean about MMW. There is a tendency to revisit melodies but each time the melody is revisited it is ripped open and stuffed with even faster bass lines, quicker more intricate plays on middle eastern sounds mixing with American Indian sounds and back into bluesy jazz again.
It would seem that Medeski is taking a new piece of clay during each performance and begins shaping it into something that isn't quite jazz, rock, blues, world, jam, but it is resulting in something greater than all of those parts.
Wood is as fun to watch as he crawls all over his stand-up bass as he is to listen to. His genius is more in omission. I can see him mentally throwing out the notes he feels are not needed, his eyes bounce from the drums to the piano, then to the the eyes of the other musicians. His style is becoming broader and smoother, even during the highly expressive superfast parts.
Martin's control of every aspect of his drums, squeaky toys, haunting bells, pieces of metal and other various noisemakers is spot on. There was a moment when he was swinging bells back and forth below and around a microphone, it was as if he could see the sound waves bouncing around and new where the bells had to be in order to create the most interesting result.
Thanks MMW for turning a rainy night into Albany into such a memorable event.
It would seem that Medeski is taking a new piece of clay during each performance and begins shaping it into something that isn't quite jazz, rock, blues, world, jam, but it is resulting in something greater than all of those parts.
Wood is as fun to watch as he crawls all over his stand-up bass as he is to listen to. His genius is more in omission. I can see him mentally throwing out the notes he feels are not needed, his eyes bounce from the drums to the piano, then to the the eyes of the other musicians. His style is becoming broader and smoother, even during the highly expressive superfast parts.
Martin's control of every aspect of his drums, squeaky toys, haunting bells, pieces of metal and other various noisemakers is spot on. There was a moment when he was swinging bells back and forth below and around a microphone, it was as if he could see the sound waves bouncing around and new where the bells had to be in order to create the most interesting result.
Thanks MMW for turning a rainy night into Albany into such a memorable event.