|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
10 |
|
|
Medeski, Martin and Wood |
| Note Bleu |
| Blue Note | 2006 | Album |
|
|
|
|
|
|
If the names Medeski, Martin and Wood sound to you like partners in a New York based law firm specializing in auto collision cases, then this music review might force you to reexamine your associations. Sure, the aforementioned threesome is big apple based, but they are far from lawyers, and their newest product Note Bleu isn't anything close to a legal precedent.
Unless of course you're making a case for mind altering musicianship and experimentation.
In 1998 Medeski, Martin and Wood released Combustication, their first album for venerable jazz label Blue Note. It was a boon for free form jazz fans, experimental music buffs and others who had followed them since the early nineties when they emerged from the primordial Manhattan music scene. The ascension to Blue Note meant that MMW were fully admitted to the Parthenon of their style. That much was without question. What was still to be determined was whether the new status would also signal a place of esteem where they could rest on their collective laurels and satisfy the big label masters. That sensational debut Combustication proved that wouldn't happen, as did the following four albums released by the label. MMW were not mellowing out; some listening to later albums The Dropper and Uninvisible might argue they were straying even further in tinkering with their roots. Blue Note gave way to a newer, more diverse, genre bending collaboration, sparking something like a soft revolution in the studio.
Gathering highlights from that time, Note Bleu: Best of the Blue Note Years 1998-2005 is a chronicle for both fans and those who still think they sound like barristers. It is a devastatingly impressive chronicle of seven fertile years that saw Medeski, Martin and Wood branch out into incorporate blues, rock and DJ cultures, all of which coming with superior results. Note Bleu picks fifteen tracks from the five Blue Note albums and lays them down out of sequence. Rather than chronological order, the songs are mingled for effect rather than to preserve a sense of proper documentation. Many of the favorites are there, from "Sugar Craft" to "Pappy Check" and "Hey-Hee-Hi-Ho", the latter song in remix version by illyB. The only choice remotely out of place is the acoustic send up of Jimi Hendrix's classic "Hey Joe." It is odd as the only choice from 2000's Tonic and its somber, almost lackadaisical feel is strangely distracting.
Ultimately Bleu Note is the perfect greatest hits compilation. On one hand, it is documents a significant piece of the band's, and ultimately jazz history, making it a success for long time fans. And for those who still see law firm in a name, it is an entrée to a collaborative force whose legacy is almost vitally important to understand. |
| Erick Mertz |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Help Support Kevchino - Use these links to buy new music.
|
|
|
|
|