Medeski

In 2020 Brian Marsella joined the heavy metal organ trio “Simulacrum” to spawn the astonishing fusion quartet “Chaos Magick”. This fourth CD in their ever-expanding legacy is a magical collection of instrumental music at its finest. Tighter and wilder than ever, Medeski, Hollenberg, Grohowski, and Marsella perform with a remarkable rapport in this provocative new direction from Downtown alchemist John Zorn, who has been exploring new musical worlds and confounding expectations since the 1970s! "444 is among the best things I’ve ever done." —John Zorn

A sublime and transcendent memorial to one of Zorn’s earliest mentors—Ennio Morricone. Featuring the soulful guitar of Bill Frisell set within the magical sonorities of vibraphone, harp and bells the music takes on an epic orchestral sweep with the added presence of special guest keyboard wizard John Medeski on organ and piano. Filled with beautiful harmonies, a driving rhythmic pulse and stunning lyri-cism, this is some of the most lush and spiritual music Zorn has ever written. Truly music of the Angels—intimate chamber music to heal an aching heart performed by one of the world's most ethereal ensembles.

Crawlspace is Medeski at his wildest and most imaginative. Using a huge array of electric and acoustic keyboards, synthesizers, mellotron and early electronic gear, he has created a complex and trippy solo project that is unlike anything you’ve ever heard before. New and uncharted sonic territory by a legendary musical master who has worked with everyone from The Meters, Irma Thomas and John Scofield to Phil Lesh, Marc Ribot and John Zorn. Commissioned by and recorded expressly for Tzadik, this is an essential piece of the Medeski puzzle.

Let's Go Everywhere is the kind of record that kids-music insiders get all wound up about, and for a reason that can be summed up in two tidy little words: it's awesome. Yes, when classifications must be made, Medeski Martin & Wood are sometimes thrown into the jazz genre. And yes, as musicians go, they're a pretty sophisticated outfit. But that hasn't prevented them from maintaining a direct line with their pirate- and pat-a-cake-loving sides. Everywhere rules because it's un-self-consciously funky ("Cat Creep"), uncondescendingly cool ("Where's The Music"), and unspookily moody ("Far East Sweets"). It's so obviously the product of three guys who know how to grow grooves, but also know how to grow bonds with 4-year-olds, that it makes other kids albums seem audaciously contrived, not to mention intolerably boring. Retentive types won't flinch from filing it alongside classics such as Schoolhouse Rock, Really Rosie, and the Sesame Street compilations. And four out of five preschoolers - maybe more like 499 out of 500 - won't disagree: Medeski Martin & Wood merit the inclusion.

Medeski, Martin, and Wood (John Zorn) - Zaebos: Book of Angels Vol. 11 (2008) {Tzadik}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 336 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 129 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 17 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2008 Tzadik | TZ 7368
Jazz / Fusion / Modern Jazz

The long awaited release of Medeski Martin and Wood performing Masada material is finally available and it is one of their tightest and most imaginative CDs ever! Playing to packed houses from Budokan to Bonaroo and back again, MMW is one of the most popular and vibrant modern instrumental ensembles around. Original members of the earliest Masada family units (reaching back to 1993), they are keenly in tune with Zorn’s musical world, and a natural choice to interpret the lyrical Book of Angels. Returning to the fold like three prodigal sons, they have created twelve exhilarating arrangements that alternately groove, loop, shred and burn with a fiery passion.

James Carter & John Medeski with Christian McBride, Adam Rogers & Joey Baron - Heaven On Earth (Live At The Blue Note) (2009)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 412 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 151 Mb
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© 2009 Half Note / ADA | HN4542
Jazz / Jam / Jazz Funk / Groove

Saxophonist James Carter and organist John Medeski (of the pioneering jam-band, Medeski, Martin & Wood) lead a supergroup featuring Christian McBride (bass), Adam Rogers (guitar) and Joey Baron (drums). Together they carve out a groove that captures the buzz and vitality of jam-jazz at its most exhilerating. Recorded live at the Blue Note in New York, the group throws down the funk on Django Reinhardt's "Diminishing," Larry Young's "Heaven On Earth," Leo Parker's "Blue Leo," and the songbook standard, "Street Of Dreams."

Medeski Martin & Wood - Radiolarians I (2008)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 373 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 146 Mb
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© 2008 Indirecto Records | IR04
Jazz / Jam / Jazz Funk / Avant-Garde Jazz

Medeski, Martin & Wood have been incorporating seemingly every corner of the musical universe, from funk to gospel to progressive sambas, into their sound for some time now, so it should come as no surprise that Radiolarians 1, the first of three planned and linked releases for the group in 2008, is all over the map, from country funk to sweet piano jazz, and that it coheres (since there are occasions when the band overloads and overreaches, although that isn't the case here) is really good news for their many admirers and fans. With a bright, and at times even sunny and joyous, sound, this first of the planned trilogy is a complete delight, moving from thundering fusion funk grooves to delicate atmospherics in the blink of an eye, and it shows the tight, detailed connection keyboardist John Medeski, drummer Billy Martin, and bassist Chris Wood have with each other.