NEWS
May 1 Philadelphia show postponed
Due to unforeseen circumstances, we have to reschedule the May 1 solo show at World Cafe Live. The new date is Dec. 4th. All tickets for the May 1 date will be valid for the December show, and refunds will be available upon request until September 1. Please call 215-222-1400 for more information.
GROUNDED AERIAL performs brand-new Medeski compsition
Grounded Aerial is visceral aerial dance company. Their technically trained dancers come from such backgrounds as Fuerza Bruta, De La Guarda, Momix, Blue Man Group, STREB, Cirque du Soleil, and Pilobolus.
On May 19th and 20th at House of Yes in Brooklyn, Grounded Arial will perform Sneak Peak, which includes a never-before-heard commissioned work by John Medeski.
House of Yes
Sunday May 19th at 7pm
Monday May 20th at 8pm
Click here for tickets
On May 19th and 20th at House of Yes in Brooklyn, Grounded Arial will perform Sneak Peak, which includes a never-before-heard commissioned work by John Medeski.
House of Yes
Sunday May 19th at 7pm
Monday May 20th at 8pm
Click here for tickets
John Medeski releases his first solo album “A Different Time” on OKeh
A Different Time (out now in the US – the first release on Sony Classical’s newly-revived OKeh Records imprint) is a more introspective, meditative collection than fans of MMW’s lively, groove-driven music might expect. Consisting mostly of Medeski’s own compositions and improvisations, with a familiar spiritual and a Willie Nelson song added into the mix, the album presents a different side of Medeski’s prodigious artistry.
Order on CD here.
Purchase on iTunes here.
Also check out upcoming tour dates here.
Solo piano shows added for spring
4/7 - Chicago, IL - Old Town School of Folk
4/8 - Milwaukee, WI - Shank Hall
4/10 - New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge
4/12 - Woodstock, NY - Brydcliffe Kleinert
5/1 - Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live
Head over to the TOUR page for more information.
FrackAction Benefit Concert and Silent Auction
John will be performing as part of "We Shall Not Be Moved: an Evening of Spirituals to Benefit Frack Action" in Woodstock, NY on March 10 with a great lineup of local artists. Tickets are available here.
NY Times: "A Historic Jazz Label Gets a New Life"
"The major-label landscape hasn’t been hospitable to jazz in recent years, but there’s a bit of good news on the horizon: OKeh Records, the label that released historic early recordings by Louis Armstrong, King Oliver and Duke Ellington, is being revived under the corporate umbrella of Sony Masterworks. The new OKeh roster will feature contemporary artists, including the guitarist Bill Frisell, the saxophonist David Sanborn and the pianist and keyboardist Bob James; its first release will be 'A Different Time,' by the pianist John Medeski, on April 9."
Read more here.
Read more here.
Italy Shows, January 17-20
John kicks off the new year in Italy with two solo piano performances and one show with The Bumps. More info on these dates below. Also check out the tour page for many more brand new tour dates.
1/17 - Fasano, Italy - Teatro Kennedy (with The Bumps)
1/19 - Ferrara, Italy - Jazzclub Ferrara (Solo piano)
1/20 - Catania, Italy - Piccolo Teatro (Solo Piano)
1/17 - Fasano, Italy - Teatro Kennedy (with The Bumps)
1/19 - Ferrara, Italy - Jazzclub Ferrara (Solo piano)
1/20 - Catania, Italy - Piccolo Teatro (Solo Piano)
John Medeski Solo Concert - Thursday Nov. 29
Where: Pick-Staiger Hall, Northwestern University Campus
50 Arts Circle Drive
Evanston, IL
When: Thu., Nov. 29, 7:30 p.m.
Price: $10-$18 -> Buy Tickets
"Keyboardist John Medeski earned his stripes long ago with Medeski Martin & Wood, a paradigm-setting hybrid of jam band and organ trio, but he's even more versatile than that trio's wide-ranging, groove-driven music would suggest—he's also a top-flight jazz improviser, whether playing retro-fusion in Spectrum Road or hard-hitting postbop with saxophonist James Carter. Medeski's forthcoming solo piano album, A Different Time (due in the spring from OKeh), reveals yet another side of him, and it's one I've never heard before. The record is dominated by refined and lyrical through-composed pieces that evoke Chopin and Satie more than they do Richard "Groove" Holmes or Jack McDuff. I hear traces of Ran Blake and Paul Bley in his patient, thoughtful, spacious style, but the music has little in common with jazz aside from a bit of stimulating harmonic ambiguity. Nonetheless his tender, kaleidoscopic performances are as engrossing as anything he plays in MMW. Medeski plays solo tonight, and he'll preview tunes from the new record."
—Peter Margasak
50 Arts Circle Drive
Evanston, IL
When: Thu., Nov. 29, 7:30 p.m.
Price: $10-$18 -> Buy Tickets
"Keyboardist John Medeski earned his stripes long ago with Medeski Martin & Wood, a paradigm-setting hybrid of jam band and organ trio, but he's even more versatile than that trio's wide-ranging, groove-driven music would suggest—he's also a top-flight jazz improviser, whether playing retro-fusion in Spectrum Road or hard-hitting postbop with saxophonist James Carter. Medeski's forthcoming solo piano album, A Different Time (due in the spring from OKeh), reveals yet another side of him, and it's one I've never heard before. The record is dominated by refined and lyrical through-composed pieces that evoke Chopin and Satie more than they do Richard "Groove" Holmes or Jack McDuff. I hear traces of Ran Blake and Paul Bley in his patient, thoughtful, spacious style, but the music has little in common with jazz aside from a bit of stimulating harmonic ambiguity. Nonetheless his tender, kaleidoscopic performances are as engrossing as anything he plays in MMW. Medeski plays solo tonight, and he'll preview tunes from the new record."
—Peter Margasak
FREE MAGIC - Available Now
Free Magic track listing:
1. Doppler
2. Blues For Another Day
3. Free Magic/Ballade In C Minor, ‘Vergessene Seelen’
4. Where’s Sly?
5. Nostalgia In Times Square/Angel Race
“There’s a rhythmic and sonic connection that we have,” says Martin of his MMW colleagues. “Listening is the most important thing for us. We’re having a conversation when we’re playing. The dynamic range is much greater in the acoustic setting. When we play electric, everything is turned up to 11 and it’s screaming. But with John on piano and Chris on upright, we can play with a much more nuanced touch. It’s a very different world, but I love it.”
Free Magic opens with “Doppler,” a song from MMW’s previous album 20 that was issued last year in celebration of the revered trio’s two decades spent as a groundbreaking force in experimental modern jazz. The tune’s droning, near-tribal introduction morphs into an earthy, undulating groove that recalls the vintage piano trios of Ahmad Jamal, Ramsey Lewis and Les McCann. Medeski’s “Blues for Another Day” follows with a burst of jagged dissonance that has him channeling his inner Cecil Taylor. From that tumultuous free jazz intro, the performance settles into a slow, bluesy meditation in which the pianist digs deep, testifying with gospel-tinged intensity. Up next is the epic title track that swirls amid a zen-like collective improv by the three kindred spirits on tuned metal percussion, prepared upright piano and bowed harmonics on upright bass before segueing to Medeski’s Chopin-influenced “Ballade in C Minor.” The fourth track selected for inclusion takes things back almost 20 years with an acoustic version of “Where’s Sly” from MMW’s 1993 album It’s a Jungle in Here. Over the course of 16-minutes, the three musicians take great liberties with the melody and extrapolate freely in typically daring MMW fashion. The closing performance on Free Magic is a savvy piano trio medley of Charles Mingus’ “Nostalgia in Times Square” and Sun Ra’s anthemic “Angel Race,” which work together perfectly. Wood summons up the spirit of his hero Mingus with his forceful and resonant bass solo on the “Nostalgia” half of this potent medley.
“This stuff brings it back to when we used to hang out in this rented shack in Hawaii and make music together,” says Martin of the music on Free Magic. “It was really just a little plywood cabin in the jungle with a tin roof. John had a prepared piano there that sounded like a gamelan instrument and I had these funky drums that had mold growing on them, or I might play the side of the shack or play the railing going up the stairs and make it sound like a xylophone. And we’d get into a lot of different stuff there, just having musical conversations in this intimate setting.”
1. Doppler
2. Blues For Another Day
3. Free Magic/Ballade In C Minor, ‘Vergessene Seelen’
4. Where’s Sly?
5. Nostalgia In Times Square/Angel Race
“There’s a rhythmic and sonic connection that we have,” says Martin of his MMW colleagues. “Listening is the most important thing for us. We’re having a conversation when we’re playing. The dynamic range is much greater in the acoustic setting. When we play electric, everything is turned up to 11 and it’s screaming. But with John on piano and Chris on upright, we can play with a much more nuanced touch. It’s a very different world, but I love it.”
Free Magic opens with “Doppler,” a song from MMW’s previous album 20 that was issued last year in celebration of the revered trio’s two decades spent as a groundbreaking force in experimental modern jazz. The tune’s droning, near-tribal introduction morphs into an earthy, undulating groove that recalls the vintage piano trios of Ahmad Jamal, Ramsey Lewis and Les McCann. Medeski’s “Blues for Another Day” follows with a burst of jagged dissonance that has him channeling his inner Cecil Taylor. From that tumultuous free jazz intro, the performance settles into a slow, bluesy meditation in which the pianist digs deep, testifying with gospel-tinged intensity. Up next is the epic title track that swirls amid a zen-like collective improv by the three kindred spirits on tuned metal percussion, prepared upright piano and bowed harmonics on upright bass before segueing to Medeski’s Chopin-influenced “Ballade in C Minor.” The fourth track selected for inclusion takes things back almost 20 years with an acoustic version of “Where’s Sly” from MMW’s 1993 album It’s a Jungle in Here. Over the course of 16-minutes, the three musicians take great liberties with the melody and extrapolate freely in typically daring MMW fashion. The closing performance on Free Magic is a savvy piano trio medley of Charles Mingus’ “Nostalgia in Times Square” and Sun Ra’s anthemic “Angel Race,” which work together perfectly. Wood summons up the spirit of his hero Mingus with his forceful and resonant bass solo on the “Nostalgia” half of this potent medley.
“This stuff brings it back to when we used to hang out in this rented shack in Hawaii and make music together,” says Martin of the music on Free Magic. “It was really just a little plywood cabin in the jungle with a tin roof. John had a prepared piano there that sounded like a gamelan instrument and I had these funky drums that had mold growing on them, or I might play the side of the shack or play the railing going up the stairs and make it sound like a xylophone. And we’d get into a lot of different stuff there, just having musical conversations in this intimate setting.”
Spectrum Road Album
You can buy the album now on iTunes - only $8.99 for nearly an hour of music!
Spectrum Road is Vernon Reid, Jack Bruce, Cindy Blackman and John Medeski.
Want More? Read about Spectrum Road in Rolling Stone
Spectrum Road is Vernon Reid, Jack Bruce, Cindy Blackman and John Medeski.
Want More? Read about Spectrum Road in Rolling Stone
MSMW Live Album
Medeski Martin & Wood join forces with legendary guitarist John Scofield for the double live album MSMW Live: In Case The World Changes Its Mind.
Order your CD or Digital Download at Music Today.
