MEDESKI MARTIN AND WOOD — Notes From the Underground (review)

MEDESKI MARTIN AND WOOD — Notes From the Underground album cover Album · 1992 · Eclectic Fusion Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
SaltyJon
Medeski, Martin & Wood are a great band, and this, their debut album, is a great testament of that. Before listening to this album, I really only knew them for their funky organ-driven jazz and their adventurous spirit when it came to their playing. This album keeps the adventurous spirit, but it's all acoustic jazz. Medeski sticks to piano and Wood sticks to double bass, giving it a really nice organic sound.

Right from the beginning you can tell these guys are a talented bunch, all displaying an excellent proficiency on their instruments and a good feel for what to play and when to play it. They have some free jazz sensibilities sometimes, and their love for a nice funky feeling is apparent even here on their debut album. Though the album's long (72 minutes, plus my version has a bonus track, "Can't Get What You Want") it never seems to drag, thanks to consistently solid playing from all the members of the group. Plus, every member gets a chance to show off his chops with various solos.

It's definitely a worthy inclusion to any jazz collection...really, any music collection. If you enjoy acoustic jazz trios who can keep things moving and interesting, then this album is definitely for you. I would point out "best tracks" but I feel like it's all of a uniformly high quality. Four stars from me.
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