Contributed photo

Contributed photo

Everyone has heard of jazz. However, to some people, jazz is simply that “stuffy” music that your grandparents used to listen to. The first time one listens to jazz, it can seem like a complex jumble of instruments devoid of Britney Spears quality lyrics. It takes some getting used to, but when you do, an appreciation for musicianship will soon grow on you. Jazz is considered one of the most purely American art forms and to appreciate its complexity is to truly understand music.

The Fairfield Theater Company seems to foster a healthy appreciation for jazz as it prepares for the arrival of modern jazz-fusion group Medeski Martin and Wood. So before you go on thinking that jazz is something that should be left back in the 1940s, you might want to get a handle on just how much jazz has changed over the years as well as how much Medeski Martin and Wood have done to make contemporary evolutions of jazz possible.

Jazz has evolved countless times over the years. Each new reinvention of style and form pushed music forward into a new age. It was in the late 60s that the new genre of jazz fusion was born. Greats such as Miles Davis took the improvisation of jazz and blended in funk and R&B rhythms with the intensity of electric rock. Through the 70s jazz fusion was a dominant force.

The 80s came and jazz would soon go with the flow again. Then the genre known as acid jazz would hit the scene. 1980s jazz and acid jazz would birth the combination of jazz, funk, and hip-hop. Guitarists such as Al Di’Meola sought out unique ways of blending jazz styles with the constantly emerging new sounds.

By the time the 90s came, music had experienced quite a renaissance. With hip-hop and grunge completely changing the music landscape, new and innovative styles were breaking through everywhere. As the music once again changed, jazz needed to change with it, jazz had to adapt. This time in music history seems all too an appropriate entrance for Medeski Martin and Wood.

In 1991, John Medeski, Billy Martin, and Chris Wood formed their band in Brooklyn, N.Y. John played keyboard, organ, or piano, Billy played the drums, and Chris the bass. The trio got their start by permeating the New York jazz scene. The band developed their own style by taking hip-hop beats and melding them within their improvisational and melodic jazz style. Their music began to catch on in New York as Medeski Martin and Wood started to play high-end venues such as the Knitting Factory and the Village Gate.

The band recorded their first album “Notes from the Underground” that same year with the label Hap-Jones Records. By 1993, the band was ready to record again. Medeski Martin and Wood were signed to a new label called Gramavision. They recorded their album “It’s a Jungle in Here,” purchased an R.V., and toured the U.S. Two years and three albums later, the trio were playing shows in Europe and Japan.

While touring through Japan is a good indication of being in a successful band, the jazz trio was only just getting started. Medeski Martin and Wood signed with the prodigious jazz label Blue Note Records in 1999. Blue Note had acts such as Thelonius Monk, Wes Montgomery, John Coltrane, Chick Corea and countless other jazz legends. Medeski Martin and Wood recorded three albums and a “best-of” set with Blue Note but continued to gain acclaim.

The group then decided to step up to the next level by creating their own label. After the birth of Inderecto Records, the group recorded “Out Louder” in 2006 with guitar legend John Scofield. The band had worked with John Scofield before on their 1998 album “A Go Go.” Each time the group and the guitarist great reunite they do so under the guise Medeski, Scofield, Martin, and Wood. John Scofield capably lent a hand in starting off Inderecto Records with a powerful album. Medeski Martin and Wood continued their momentum and creativity in 2008 by releasing an album for kids called “Let’s go Everywhere.” For 2009, the band is working on a three part album called “Radiolarians.”
With each new album or project, this trio has done well to preserve jazz while mixing it up and turning it on its head. Their new three album project Radiolarian 1, 2, and 3 is a prime example of how Medeski Martin and Wood continue to shake up the jazz scene.

According to The Museum of Science’s Web site, it defines a radiolarian as the following: “the skeleton of a single-celled organism … Radiolarians live in large quantities as part of the ocean’s plankton. When the radiolarian dies, its shell sinks to the bottom. After millions of years of radiolarian shells ‘raining down’ on the sea floor, they accumulate in great quantities. Much of the sea floor of the deep oceans are covered in this radiolarian ‘ooze.'”

This interesting title for Medeski Martin and Wood’s album project. It speaks to the band’s new direction. The Radiolarian project will take the listener into the deep where we will find layers of jazz as they rain through the abyss. An album review on JezebelMusic.com also reveals that Medeski Martin and Wood have taken on an entirely new method to creating their albums that has aided in perfecting their new project.

According to the Web site, “Medeski Martin and Wood have taken a new approach in the means of compiling a record. Instead of writing, recording, distributing, and then touring; they wrote, toured, recorded what transpired on stage, and then distributed.” This new process lies at the heart of what jazz is and is supposed to be. Medeski Martin and Wood’s new technique allows the trio to capture the essence of each improvisational moment while allowing them to evolve naturally.

To see Medeski Martin and Wood perform would not be just a jazz show; it would be a jazz experience. Their impressive list of works covers a wide range of jazz-fusion, but the radiolarian project too would be a unique experience as these jazz greats continue to reinvent themselves. Whether it’s their older material or the new, one only needs to appreciate the immense skill that each band member exhibits, if you’re not already lost in their improvisational and harmonic excellence.

Medeski Martin and Wood have taken jazz into a new era over the past two decades. They have come a long way as a band and have enjoyed much success. We at Fairfield are fortunate to have such an important band perform so close by.

Medeski Martin and Wood are playing at the Fairfield Theater Comany at the Klein in Bridgeport on Friday, Sept. 11 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online through The Fairfield Theater Company at fairfieldtheater.org

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