After two decades of making music together, avant-groove trio returned to bassist Chris Wood’s hometown Friday night to a packed house at the . The group’s anniversary performance dived into funky jam band water while staying true to the free-form jazz spirit that has been the trademark of the band since it formed in New York City in 1991.
“20 years…I can’t believe it,” said drummer Billy Martin, “Hopefully we’ll be around for 20 more.”
The trio opened the night with three funk-drenched tunes they have been playing for over a decade — “Bubblehouse,” “Hey-Hee-Hi-Ho” and “The Lover”– before evolving into obscurity. During an ambient “Start-Stop,” Wood played his upright bass with a bow while Martin abandoned his kit entirely to experiment on a table of bells and whistles (literally) he had set up behind him. The first set ended at 10:30 with an elaborate bass solo that led into a soulful version of “Chubb Sub.”
“Welcome to our shack party!” Martin greeted the crowd at the start of the second set. “Shacking out” is the term the band uses to describe their open, improvisational second sets. This alludes to the jams the band had throughout the ’90s while living out of a shack in Hawaii.
The set wandered through an eclectic musical spectrum, allowing each musician to freely express himself without fear or expectation. At any time, one of the three members could drop out entirely without losing the internal groove that kept the Boulder crowd moving during even the most inaccessible jazz improvisations. The show ended rather abruptly at midnight with a brief encore of “Uninvisible,” the title track off their 2002 release.
John Medeski was a man of two tales during the show. At times he would be an animated force, directing the theater to his next thought during mind-blowing solos. Other times, he secluded himself to his Steinway grand piano, where, with his back to the audience, he serenaded the theater with graceful jazzy playing.
Medeski surrounded himself in all directions with every conceivable kind of keyboard. His performance included piercing Hammond B3 licks, haunting choral synth effects and a memorable melodica solo where he eventually traded bars with his Wurlitzer electric piano.
The rhythm section was equally creative. Wood played his signature upright bass for a number of tunes, but opted to play a small bodied electric for the majority of the night. With it he showed a number of inventive techniques, once using a slide to create a guitar-like voicing.
Martin’s mastery of African rhythm (his recently published book, “Riddim,” is dedicated to the matter) and distinct style left the audience constantly guessing. It was as if every few measures he grew tired of his idea and needed to create something altogether different to be satisfied. He often created a strange stereo sound with his assortment of shakers and cowbells by moving back and forth between his two overhead mics.
“We don’t really call ourselves jazz, but I guess we’re a part of that family,” Martin told the crowd after announcing that “Hey-Hee-Hi-Ho” had been selected as part of the Smithsonian’s latest jazz anthology.
Whatever you want to call their music, Medeski, Martin & Wood continue to push the boundaries of what is possible. And they have no intention of stopping anytime soon.
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Nate Etter is a Boulder-based musician and a new contributor to Reverb.
Joshua Elioseff is a Boulder-based freelance photographer and regular Reverb contributor. Check out his .
