Medeski

Before they went electric and funky, John Medeski, Billy Martin, and Chris Wood were acoustic and funky- and a lot of other things – on this exciting early CD. They ruminate like a conventional jazz piano trio when the whim hits them, or move outside when Medeski explodes into Don Pullen-esque clusters. Their metier, though, was clearly the neo-funk thing, for when Martin pulls off those crackling hip-hop and M-Base-related beats on tracks like "Uncle Chubbs" and "Orbits," the band really achieves liftoff. "Caravan" gets a rolling New Orleans funk treatment, and the finale, "Querencia," is a lengthy excursion into dense avant-garde underbrush with a touch of the street in the beat.

Out Louder reunites keyboardist John Medeski, drummer Billy Martin, and bassist Chris Wood with guitar great John Scofield, who employed the trio on his 1997 A Go Go album. That record opened the creativity gates for both the trio and Scofield, who fed off and goaded each other into territories neither party had previously gone separately. Out Louder isn't so much a rematch as an upgrade. Both Scofield and MMW have continued to explore in the near-decade since A Go Go, and they come to this project with a greater understanding of their collective abilities as well as a willingness to explore the possibilities further. Not unexpectedly, the four musicians work hard here, but they also have a ton of fun. The opening track, "Little Walter Rides Again," serves notice that this isn't going to be an exercise in showing off but rather four envelope-pushing musicians picking each other's brains and seeing what they find…

Medeski Martin & Wood + Nels Cline announce the release of The Woodstock Sessions on April 14th. The four musicians came together to record on August 27, 2013 at Applehead Studios in Woodstock, NY in front of an intimate gathering of 75 lucky ticket holders. The session was part of a newly launched series that brings established and emerging recording artists together with their fans in the recording studio. The experience is a performance/session hybrid that supports the artist to fan bond by sharing the process of record making. The end results of the sessions are inimitable recordings that capture inspired, one-off performances.