Sound Tribe Sector 9 is fun, but stylistally complicated.

With each passing decade, music evolves as society does, reflecting the beauty, struggle, happiness, and pain in life. Music’s journey cannot be stopped and it will continue to surprise us as society calls out for a new voice in both good times and bad.

Today is no different — in many ways, our generation is living the same form of social collectivism that came from the 60s and 70s as a nation at war. Society can come together in harsh times when change and a new direction is needed, and it is often music that brings the hardest issues and sentiments to bear.

Sound Tribe Sector 9, a difficult band to classify, is an intriguing example of how music in times of struggle can bring people together to address the social climate of the day, as well as how to change society through the purity of music.

Sound Tribe Sector 9 was formed in Atlanta, Georgia in the late 1990s. At the time, the group was short some members and known as only Sector 9. By 2000, the group picked up its final members, moved to Northern California, and renamed themselves Sound Tribe Sector 9.

Sound Tribe, as they are often called, started off by playing music that could be categorized under the genre of “drum and bass.” “Drum and bass” is a rhythm-driven style of music in which the drummer and the bassist lay down fast beats and grooves that change on a dime. The rest of the band is then free to utilize melodies that dance around the powerful rhythm. Sound Tribe recorded several studio and live albums under this powerful genre, but as time changed, so did it.

Today it could be considered, among other things, as an “intelligent dance music” band. Intelligent dance music, or IDM, is a genre characterized by individual experimentation. Both of these genres are evolutions of the techno movement. The various offshoots of techno are often summarized as electronica, but Sound Tribe has pushed electronic music into a new territory. Simply put, Sound Tribe’s music is great dance music that you might hear at a club, but with a musical complexity that would appease the most discerned listener. Its music is a fusion of various styles that bring an audience on a journey, and one that is unique and open to interpretation.

Sound Tribe is known for its powerful performances, but it was its recent album “Peaceblaster” that was not only its pinnacle of studio work, but also a call for society to take on a new direction. Although they are a band that uses lyrics sparingly, the words that pour through speak to social commentary. An interview with the band reveals their sentiments that music, be it their own or other types of music coming out these days, carries a message and a spirit.

An interview found on www.last.fm reveals Sound Tribe’s feelings about music today. Band member Hunter Brown comments, “there is incredible music coming out these days. People feel alive. They feel that their lives matter, that their choices matter. This leads to great art.”

When commenting on “Peaceblaster,” bassist David Murphy states, “America is this beautiful, incredible place, but it has a dark underbelly, and even on Peaceblaster’s most ethereal songs, there’s a darkness that reflects what’s going on in society — it ain’t all bad, but it ain’t all good.”

Sound Tribe has crossed many genres and has reached an audience by delivering powerful performances and respecting music’s great influence on society. “The music of the sixties and seventies reflected the politics of the era,” Murphy says in the aforementioned article. “America’s back in that place right now.”

Sound Tribe has done more than simply bring people together through the power of music; it has also made a valiant effort to use its music to preach social awareness and responsibility. After releasing “Peaceblaster,” the band created a Web site after the album that displays a variety of current issues, from Afghanistan to healthcare. Sound Tribe also actively donates money to charitable organizations across the country. Just last summer, Sound Tribe directed its humanitarian efforts to the organization “Make it Right,” a charity working towards building homes for Hurricane Katrina victims. It is refreshing to hear about a band that has taken so many steps toward achieving social awareness and harmony through the power of their music.

Sound Tribe is composed of Hunter Brown (guitar/laptop/midi keyboard), Jeffree Lerner (percussion/laptop/handsonic) David Murphy (bass/laptop/midi keyboard), David Phipps (keyboards/laptop), and Zach Velmer (drums). From the mesmerizing lights to getting lost on the journey they take us on, they are sure to please a wide audience. It serves as an added bonus to appreciate the band’s effort to use their success for the cultivation of social awareness as they help push music forward into bold new territories.

Sound Tribe Sector 9 is performing on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 8:00 pm at The Klein in Bridgeport. Tickets can be purchased online at www.fairfieldtheater.org

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