Home » Jazz Musicians » Medeski Martin & Wood

Medeski Martin & Wood

Wide open: That’s the phrase John Medeski uses to describe his bandmates’ musical sensibilities, the attitude he seeks in himself, and the spirit of musical adventure that Medeski Martin & Wood have pursued for two decades.

The trio’s amalgam of jazz, funk, “avant-noise” and a million other musical currents and impulses is nearly impossible to classify, which is just how they like it. Medeski’s keyboard excursions, Chris Wood’s hard-charging bass lines and Billy Martin’s supple, danceable beats have come to resemble a single organism, moving gracefully between genre-defying compositions and expansive improvisation atop a relentless groove.

Floridian Medeski had his first out-of-body experience playing a Mozart piano sonata as an adolescent. He soon began playing at every opportunity – from school musicals and talent shows to marching band, in which he served as a percussionist—and had his mind blown by an Oscar Peterson record. As a teen, he formed his own jazz-fusion trio and was invited to tour Japan by legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius. He made his way to the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) and entered its boundary-pushing Third Stream department, which nurtured his improvisational impulses and encouraged him to find his own musical voice. He worked as a sideman in Boston and rediscovered roots music playing seven nights a week Mr. Jelly Belly.

California-born, Colorado-bred Wood, meanwhile, learned folk and blues songs at the feet of his musician/biologist dad and poet mom, swooned at the fearless innovations of Mingus and Monk, attended NEC and eventually studied with Geri Allen, Dave Holland and other luminaries. His apprenticeship with these powerful music figures was, he admits, a humbling one. “Sometimes my lesson would consist of me improvising for an hour with Geri watching,” he relates. “It was terrifying, because it exposed every weakness. But the more you accept who you are, the more free you are to express that. Your bag of tricks as a player becomes a doorway to infinite possibilities.”

Martin, who’d grown up in New York and New Jersey, imbibed a range of musical currents from his classical violinist father and Radio City Rockette mother, but it was his older brothers who first exposed him to rock and soul. He fell in love with Hendrix, James Brown, Sly Stone, Zappa and KISS and began bashing his uncle’s kit; soon he was in the jazz band at school, then at the preparatory division of the Manhattan School of Music. As a musical omnivore in New York City, he studied with assorted greats, mastered an array of percussion instruments, formed the samba band Batucada and played with everyone from jazz-pop superstar Chuck Mangione to Bill Frisell to New York’s avant-garde heroes the Lounge Lizards.

Read more

Tags

8
Play This!

Medeski Martin & Wood: Smoke

Read "Medeski Martin & Wood: Smoke" reviewed by Michael Ricci


Ever get stuck at a red light with some youngster blaring infernal racket from his car in the other lane? You can't wait for the light to turn green... but it gives you an idea... and you're thinking... which song can I crank up that turns heads in, say, the Costco parking lot? Here's one. With all eyes on you, discerning shoppers are thinking, “that cat has great taste." ...

3
Book Review

ECHO: A Survey at 25 Years of Sounds, Art and Ink on Paper

Read "ECHO: A Survey at 25 Years of Sounds, Art and Ink on Paper" reviewed by Doug Collette


ECHO: A Survey at 25 Years of Sounds, Art and Ink on Paper 280 Pages ISBN: # 979-8-21809624-3 Higher Ground 2023 In honor of Higher Ground's 25th anniversary, the South Burlington Vermont music venue has collaborated in the curation of ECHO: A Survey at 25 Years of Sounds, Art and Ink on Paper. Since founding the club in a strip mall in Winooski Vermont, HG's owners worked closely with Solidarity of Unbridled Labour and ...

4
In Pictures

Sound the Alarms: Medeski Martin & Wood at the 2019 NYC Winter Jazz Festival

Read "Sound the Alarms: Medeski Martin & Wood at the 2019 NYC Winter Jazz Festival" reviewed by Dave Kaufman


The 2019 jazz fest season is upon us and I'm taking to this opportunity to look back at some of my best festival experiences over the course of the last year. The JNY: New York City Winter Jazzfest celebrated its 15th anniversary this past year (2019). I have been very fortunate to have attended 12 of them. It's never less than a great event with an astonishing lineup of stellar artists, including some of the biggest names in jazz as ...

1
Album Review

Medeski, Martin & Wood: Omnisphere

Read "Omnisphere" reviewed by Maurizio Comandini


Il fantasmagorico trio Medeski, Martin & Wood ha iniziato la propria attività nel 1991, andandosi a prendere inizialmente la corona di migliore jam band per poi proseguire lungo percorsi originali di assoluto valore, dove jazz e avanguardia si intersecano senza problemi. Per non farsi mancare nulla i tre musicisti americani non dimenticano mai di aggiungere qualche pizzico di rock e di funky. John Medeski, Billy Martin e Chris Wood hanno anche attività musicali separate e sono sempre ...

3
Lyrics

Medeski, Martin & Wood alle prese con le sei corde

Read "Medeski, Martin & Wood alle prese con le sei corde" reviewed by Maurizio Comandini


Medeski, Martin & Wood hanno recentemente pubblicato due album molto diversi fra di loro che li vedono alle prese con due compagni di strada autorevoli e ingombranti allo stesso tempo. Nel primo caso l'album si chiama Woodstock Sessions (vol. 2) e il compagno di strada è l'eccellente chitarrista Nels Cline, da tanti anni attivo nelle terre misteriose del jazz contemporaneo della West Coast e da alcuni anni diventato molto famoso anche in altri contesti, a seguito del suo ingresso in ...

16
Album Review

Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood: Juice

Read "Juice" reviewed by Troy Collins


For over two decades, keyboardist John Medeski, percussionist Billy Martin and bassist Chris Wood's abiding fascination with the endless possibilities of groove-based music has taken them from intimate jazz clubs to outdoor festival stages. Their eclectic efforts have included a number of high-profile collaborations; the most prolific and successful has been with esteemed guitarist John Scofield. Following the concert performances issued as In Case the World Changes Its Mind (Indirecto, 2011), Juice is their fourth album together since 1998's pace ...

21
Extended Analysis

Medeski, Martin & Wood + Nels Cline: Woodstock Sessions, Vol. 2

Read "Medeski, Martin & Wood + Nels Cline: Woodstock Sessions, Vol. 2" reviewed by John Kelman


In retrospect, it was inevitable; why it took so long for veteran jazz jam band Medeski, Martin & Wood to get together with Nels Cline is anybody's guess. The über-guitarist has, since joining Wilco a decade ago, managed to significantly raise his visibility, but anybody who suggests that he's been “moonlighting" in the alt-country/alt-rock/alt-alt band to pay the rent hasn't been paying attention. Like keyboardist John Medeski, drummer Billy Martin and bassist Chris Wood, Cline's career has been largely associated ...

Read more articles
80

Music Industry

MSMW Live: In Case the World Changes Its Mind

MSMW Live: In Case the World Changes Its Mind

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland

This is a live collection from jazz guitarist John Scofield collaborating with John Medeski on organ and keyboards, Billy Martin on drums and Chris Wood on bass. The music was drawn from the source material of their previous collaborations John Scofield's A Go Go and MSMW's Out Louder. Their lengthy 2006 tour together provided the music for this album. The open the double-live album in fine fashion with the up-tempo groover “A Go-Go," featuring a strong guitar solo. Bubbling organ ...

75

TV / Film

MMW: Fly in a Bottle Doc

MMW: Fly in a Bottle Doc

Source: JamBase

MEDESKI MARTIN & WOOD TO RELEASE THE FILM, FLY IN A BOTTLE, ON DVD OCTOBER 25 Taking a look into the minds and lives of Medeski Martin & Wood, drummer/ percussionist, Billy Martin, directed the first feature film in the band's history titled, Fly in a Bottle. Working through a yearlong period of personal 16mm film and HD camcorder footage of MMW on the road and in the studio during the Radiolarians recordings, the film provides an extremely intimate portrait ...

169

Recording

MMW to Celebrate 20th Anniversary with 20 New Tracks

MMW to Celebrate 20th Anniversary with 20 New Tracks

Source: JamBase

PRE-ORDERS AVAILABLE NOW FOR BUNDLE OF 20 TRACKS Medeski Martin & Wood will celebrate their 20th anniversary by releasing 20 new songs. 2 new digital tracks will be released monthly starting on 3/29 until the end of the year. Music Today is taking pre-orders for the bundle of 20 tracks for $9.90 through 3/29. Individual tracks can be purchased for $.99 on iTunes, Music Today, and other digital retailers starting on 3/29. Click here to pre-order the bundle of tracks. ...

42

Performance / Tour

MMW: 20th Anniversary Shows

MMW: 20th Anniversary Shows

Source: JamBase

REQUEST SETS AND OLD SCHOOL SHACK PARTIES! Medeski Martin & Wood have announced the first details of their 20th anniversary plans for 2011. A statement from the band emailed to fans reads: MMW Fans: Request your favorites! MMW's entire first set of their March tour will be comprised of song requests. Their second set will be a nod to the improvisational shack party days with special guests to be announced. Fans can make requests through the MMW Facebook page starting ...

135

Festival

Medeski, Martin and Wood to Headline the Scranton Jazz Fest

Medeski, Martin and Wood to Headline the Scranton Jazz Fest

Source: Michael Ricci

The trio of keyboard/organ/pianist John Medeski, drummer/percussionist Billy Martin, and bassist Chris Wood formed in a neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, known as D.U.M.B.O. (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) in 1991. By 1995, Medeski Martin & Wood were touring the world, as their performance circuit spread out and around the entire United States, and into Europe and Japan. Their sound ranges from soulful organ-groove basics to a more expansive world of snappy beats and backbeats, eerie atmospheric effects, post-lounge ...

255

Performance / Tour

MMW Live from Your Couch!

MMW Live from Your Couch!

Source: Big Hassle

WATCH MEDESKI MARTIN & WOOD LIVE...FROM YOUR COUCH! THIRD ANNUAL CAMP MMW AUGUST 1-6 Camp MMW applications are due June 21 Medeski Martin & Wood in association with Nevessa Production are proud to announce two very special live webcasts on June 9 & 10, 2010 at 7PM EDT each night. The performances will stream from Nevessa Soundstage near Woodstock, NY. The June 9 webcast will feature ...

192

Education

Medeski Martin & Wood Announce Third Annual Camp MMW

Medeski Martin & Wood Announce Third Annual Camp MMW

Source: Michael Ricci

Medeski Martin & Wood will be holding their third annual camp this summer on the grounds of Full Moon Resort in the Catskill Mountains from August 1-6th, 2010.

John Medeski, Billy Martin and Chris Wood will personally be leading intensive workshops, master classes and ensembles. For five days, campers will be encouraged to improve listening skills, interact with musicians and approach music in a completely innovative way.

As always, CAMP MMW will feature special guests. So far guitarist and Berklee ...

130

Performance / Tour

Medeski, Martin and Wood to Perform at the Showbox

Medeski, Martin and Wood to Perform at the Showbox

Source: Seattle Jazz Scene

The jazz trio Medeski Martin and Wood first performed together in 1991 at the now-defunct Village Gate nightclub in downtown Manhattan, in a style neither they nor others put a name to. They sounded as much like a rock band as a jazz group, creating some new fans, and puzzling some others. In retrospect, the trio (also known as MMW), which performs Saturday night at the Showbox at the Market, was part of a shift in jazz, although few were ...

196

Interview

MMW Keyboardist John Medeski Interviewed at AAJ and More!

MMW Keyboardist John Medeski Interviewed at AAJ and More!

Source: All About Jazz

The Medeski, Martin & Wood band, one that has amassed followers like a snowball rolling down a mountain of wet snow since its emergence on the scene over 18 years ago, is one of those exceptional organizations that doesn't stick to playing what might be expected by its audiences. They don't play it safe, instead choosing to explore sounds, grooves, genres as the spirit moves them. And 2009 saw the spirit moving them a great deal.

For proof, Exhibit A ...

239

Performance / Tour

Medeski, Martin & Wood Perform John Zorn's Zaebos + the Claudia Quintet Perform at the Barbican!

Medeski, Martin & Wood Perform John Zorn's Zaebos + the Claudia Quintet Perform at the Barbican!

Source: All About Jazz

Wednesday 8 July 7.30pm Medeski, Martin & Wood perform John Zorn's Zaebos + The Claudia Quintet Tickets 10/15/20/25 Produced by the Barbican in association with Serious Part of Blaze A firm favourite at the Barbican since their explosive set with guest guitarist John Scofield in 2007, the thrilling trio of organist/piano player John Medeski, drummer Billy Martin, and bassist Chris Wood formed in Brooklyn, New York, in 1991. Medeski and Wood, students at Boston's prestigious New England Conservatory of Music, ...

Space Whale Orchestra
band / ensemble / orchestra
Danil Zverkhanovsky
guitar, electric
Ari Joshua
guitar
Daniel Latorre
organ, Hammond B3

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Omnisphere

Indirecto Records
2018

buy

Medeski, Martin &...

The Woodstock Sessions
2014

buy

Juice

Indirecto Records
2014

buy

Medeski, Martin &...

Indirecto Records
2012

buy

Free Magic: Live

Indirecto Records
2012

buy

In Case The World...

Indirecto Records
2011

buy

Videos

Similar

Weather Report
band / ensemble / orchestra
Jimmy Smith
organ, Hammond B3
The Bad Plus
band / ensemble / orchestra
Gary Burton
vibraphone
Soulive
band / ensemble / orchestra
DJ Galactic
guitar, acoustic
Booker T & the MG's
band / ensemble / orchestra
Galactic
band / ensemble / orchestra

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.