My friend and designer extraordinaire John Zeratsky has been a Medeski, Martin & Wood fan for some years now. He’s fond of their acoustic side and a little less fond of their acid-jazz-house tendencies. He’s also fond of their collaborations with Mr. John Scofield, so thanks to Aaron w/ MMW, John got a pass into the show. Here are his thoughts…
The most exciting thing about the MSMW show at the Vic last weekend was hearing a couple of tunes from A Go Go live! That’s always been my favorite MMW album (even if it’s actually a Scofield album), and not surprisingly “Hottentot” literally sent shivers up my spine.
It was a great night of music. More collars and less pot than your typical MMW show, but I am in no position to complain about that. My cousin Liz and I got a good spot in the balcony, right next to the tapers, and generally stayed clear of an overzealous security guard with a flashlight.
(Speaking of tapers, check out the MP3s at the bottom of the post.)
The group sounded and looked very natural together. I really enjoyed hearing Scofield play in this setting. His album work is tremendous, but he’s never seemed all that natural with his Uberjam/Up All Night band or his trio. But things were definitely clicking — Sco and Medeski were melodically locked-in, and I think I even heard Sco play some rhythm parts :-)
On stage, it was a total gear fest. Medeski played a B3, Wurli, Rhodes and two other keyboards I couldn’t identify. Wood played four basses — one upright acoustic, three electric. And Martin… well, yeah, he had a lot of stuff too. Even Scofield swapped his AS-200 for a Telecaster on one tune.
My only complaint is that the encore was a bit weak. But after two and a half hours, I should be happy they came back for an encore at all.
All in all, a great show. Enjoy these MP3s, recorded at the Vic by Paul Hofferkamp:
- Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood – Little Walter Rides Again (live, 12/9/06) [mp3]
- Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood – Hottentot (live, 12/9/06) [mp3]
- Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood – Julia (live, 12/9/06) [mp3]
{ 5 comments }
dude, sounds like a great time was had by all… can’t wait to listen to the recording tomorrow… thanks!!
how do I get a freelance gig? ;)
Scofield is really incedible – I heard him once with Pat Metheny – great !!!
Man, I was at this show…front and center, right at their feet. Words don’t really do MSMW any justice: during one of their jams the Scof just stared at me…too bad he never saw me though – his eyes were open but he was so lost in the music he might as well have been blind.
I would never stand in one place for 4 hours for anyone else.
This lineup will be playing Chicago’s Jazzfest in September.
Comments on this entry are closed.