Blog Archives
FAITU#52+#53+#54+#55+#56
FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN THE UNIVERSE
(FAITU#52 & #53 & #54 & #55 & #56)
2001-04-20
2002-04-20
2004-04-20
2005-04-20
2013-04-20
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2001-04-20
MMW c.2001
Source info:
2001-04-20.neumann-u89.117619.t-flac16
– ONE SET (tracks 1-23) –
– SHACK THOUGHTS –
Another opening slot with The Dropper, but this time the band basically jumps right into the tune and WE ARE ROLLING! Cool little Shack out of there and we move into *yet another* kick ass single spring set show! Super fun Acoustic Intro > Chubb Sub too …
enjoy the grooves,
dug
2002-04-20
MMW c.2002
Source info:
2002-04-20.schoeps641.9521.t-flac16
– SET I (tracks 1-7) –
– SET II (tracks 8-15) –
– SHACK THOUGHTS –
Speak of the devil! Take Me Nowhere pops up here … Lifeblood, again cool with an extended outro of sorts … Creole > Felic might be the highlight of the show for me … well, the Moti Mo to close is in competition but not quite … Nocturnal Transmission is a wicked tune! And the move into Where’s Sly? is wacked! HA!
Can’t speak to Dan the Automator additions to the show too much … I’m just not a DJ guy … I simply can’t recall one way or the other at the moment …
enjoy the grooves,
dug
2004-04-20
Wood & Martin 2004-05-28 @Harmony Park Music Garden, Geneva, MN
Source info:
2004-04-20.fob.dpa4023.23966.t-flac16
– SET I (tracks 1-11) –
– SET II (tracks 12-27) –
– SHACK THOUGHTS –
Standing out as one of the most incredible run of shows MMW has ever played, these April 2004 gigs of 100% improvisation exhibit the band at the height of their SHACK skills, pulling endless melodies and grooves out of thin air, along with the usual visits to more out-there/open space.
Each night encores with a tune intended for release on End Of the World Party (Just In Case) later in 2004 — Whiney Bitches never made it to the US release, but I think was on the Japanese release, and was later found on the Note Bleu-Best of the Blue Note Years 1998-2005 compilation disc.
All that to say: Dig into these gigs of pure musical exploration … you won’t be disappointed.
enjoy the grooves,
dug
2005-04-20
MMW @The Staircase, Scranton, PA 2005-05-13
Source info:
2005-04-20.akg463.29083.t-flac16
– SET I (tracks 1-5) –
– SET II (tracks 6-13) –
– SHACK THOUGHTS –
The show opens in fine form with lots of exploration solidifying in a tweaked-out groove — Medeski’s keys are wild! We move through 2 incredible improvisations in the first 30min — you have to listen to these guys constructing these pieces on the fly, it’s unreal, boiling down to Chris letting loose on a Bass Solo before illyB joins back in and the two groove out and play around for a few minutes before landing into Hegaz — this is an incredible tune the guys played throughout April ’05 thanks to Brahim Fribgane bringing over this Club D’Elf tune during his sit-in @Tonic in NYC the previous March. Thought it might be the Zorn tune Ziphim for a while, but it’s a D’Elf tune, I believe written by Brahim. John sticks on piano throughout for this one which is real nice — each version of this tune is worth checking out for what the band does over the course of its brief inclusion in the live repertoire. Curtis is a hard groove resolving to the soothing wackiness of ITAHTLMJ to close the set, a tune benefiting nicely from Medeski’s ’05 key sounds.
2nd set gets going with a solid (as always) EOTWP (love that bowed bass!), with a HUGE Reflector close on its heels containing a Drum Solo which is fairly common for the tune but not a given, so I like to note it, and this jams into the nice combo of New Planet > The Lover, leading to a Bass Improv Outro that takes us to the slink of Sasa. The quietness of Everyday People follows (ya know, I honestly hardly recognize this cover!), and Queen Bee (a common closer) rocks us out to end with the cries of Whiney Bitches — what a pairing to wrap-up the set! Every version of Whiney Bitches is worth hearing as well …
Who The Fuck? is a short but VERY sweet encore — FRICKIN’ LOVE THIS PJ Harvey tune! Never listened to the original because I’m afraid how much it might ruin my love for MMW’s version … it rocks SO HARD!
enjoy the grooves,
dug
2013-04-20
Wood @Mondavi Center, Jackson Hall, Davis, CA 2013-04-20
Source info:
2013-04-20.neumann-km140.124444.t-flac16
– SET I (tracks 1-6) –
– SET II (tracks 7-12) –
– SHACK THOUGHTS –
An electric gig drops on 4/20 in the midst of an acoustic run …
– SET I –
Some mildly piercing tweaks of feedback-like noise begin our journey through this 4/20 excursion, I believe the sounds are coming from Chris bowing below his bridge on the stand-up — it makes that kinda uncomfortable sounds. John is filling in some atmospheric sounds while Billy tinkers with some percussive injections. This open space is sifted and mined for groove until just after 5min or so the band allows the groove to emerge — Chris has already been building up the bassline, but @5:20 of track #2 John hits a mild riff and things evolve smoothly from there … this feels nice and welcoming even with its haunted edge. The last couple of minutes of the track sees the band developing what sounds like the beginning of an entirely new piece but it only lasts a couple of minutes … could really just be the outro from the previous improvisation, but I’ve noted it separately and it actually chills down to a very brief skittering from illyB on the kit before we reach silence.
Martin @Mondavi Center, Jackson Hall, Davis, CA 2013-04-20
The next track picks up the energy a bit with an illyBeat kicking hard before John chimes in with a nice and funky Clav riff followed by some nasty slide work from Chris on his electric — and we’re suddenly in a much funkier territory that’s almost feels scary to follow but also so nice. The organ comes in with a complimentary/contrasting riff to the Clavinet and this is a FUNKY TUNE, folks! Too bad we’ll never hear it again … THANK YOU TAPERS!!!
Track #4 I’ve dubbed “Mondavi Piano” — it’s incredible. It’s comprised of a few sections that sound to me like they all work together as a composition — spontaneous? I dunno … but listen and you’ll love it. The intro section moves smoothly into the main piano groove of the song c.3:40 — beautiful work from John here, complimented so perfectly by Chris and Billy. Wicked good. This builds to some chaos, out of which John continues a piano riff as the track rolls over and Billy joins in on percussion …
Medeski @Mondavi Center, Jackson Hall, Davis, CA 2013-04-20
Medeski drops out and illyB keeps playing his mettalic percussives for a spell, and then John slowly joins in with a murky little riff on (what I think is) the Wurlitzer — oh yeah, and Chris starts to compliment John as Billy switches to the kit and things start movin’ and groovin’. This is great and leads us to a Drum Solo closing the set — I recall an old interview where Billy noted the first time they ever did that, close a set with a Drum Solo, and how different it felt and how cool it was … not sure, think around ’03 … anyway, set break!
– SET II –
The 2nd set gets back to tunes, with a great selection, cool to hear, especially since in 2013 we weren’t hearing much else from the band other than the surrounding acoustic gigs that were the thrust of this spring ’13 tour. I think you had to hit some European festivals to catch MMW electric that year — HA! — so, lucky for our friends across the Atlantic. Anyway, great selection of tunes that are all at the top of their game, with a nice loose yet in control and confident feel.
Wood & Martin @Mondavi Center, Jackson Hall, Davis, CA 2013-04-20
Shacklyn Knights is a good slinky way to begin the set, followed by a Bass Solo, while LCTDT(P) is a particular highlight — stellar piano from John. JLIPI takes me back to my first live experience with MMW in ’98, and I’m a sucker for always hearing No Ke Ano Ahiahi for similar reasons — it’s a tune my wife and I both love as well. Heaven on Earth is a tune we could hear more from the band … if/when they play again more …
enjoy the grooves,
dug
THE SHACK STREAM
LISTEN/DOWNLOAD ANOTHER SHOW!
MMW Halloween History
– KNOWN/CIRCULATING RECORDINGS FROM HALLOWEEN (2000-2008) –
Trouble playing/downloading tunes?
| ~ HALLOWEEN Shows ~ ~ FLAC & MP3 filesets ~ ~ Download and/or Stream ~ |
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| 2000-10-31.schoeps-m222-mk41.96277.t-flac16 [TSP-Halloween #1] Beacon Theater, New York, NY Tuesday, October 31, 2000 # with Whirligig Percussion Ensemble (Paula Potocki, Arno Buzack & Gregg Burrows with Billy Martin & Cyro Baptista) * with Robert Randolph on pedal steel with Marc Ribot + Cyro Baptista on entire second set + encore |
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| 2001-10-31.fob.schoeps-cmc64.6158.t-flac16 [TSP-Halloween #2] The Beacon Theatre, New York, NY Wednesday, October 31, 2001 w/ Marc Ribot w/ Kid Koala and DJ P-Love # w/ Whirligig Percussion ensemble |
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 MMW – Halloween 2000 |
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| 2002-10-31.fob.neumann-tlm170.13067.t-flac16 [TSP-Halloween #3] Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY Thursday, October 31, 2002 # “Stridulations” are a series of independent percussion compositions written by illy B (aka Billy Martin), of which two were performed on this date, one leading right into the other. The five performers were: MMW, Steven Bernstein, and percussionist Carl Nilsen. * w/ DJ Spooky + w/ Mauro Refosco ^ w/ Smokey Hormel % w/ Uninvisible Horns of NYC: Steven Bernstein – trumpet, slide trumpet, director Briggan Krauss – alto sax Howard Johnson – tuba Curtis Hasselbring – trombone |
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| 2002-10-31.mbho603.13050.t-flac16 [TSP-Halloween #4] Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY Thursday, October 31, 2002 # “Stridulations” are a series of independent percussion compositions written by illy B (aka Billy Martin), of which two were performed on this date, one leading right into the other. The five performers were: MMW, Steven Bernstein, and percussionist Carl Nilsen. * w/ DJ Spooky + w/ Mauro Refosco ^ w/ Smokey Hormel % w/ Uninvisible Horns of NYC: Steven Bernstein – trumpet, slide trumpet, director Briggan Krauss – alto sax Howard Johnson – tuba Curtis Hasselbring – trombone |
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| 2002-10-31.mg210.112715.t-flac16 [TSP-Halloween #5] Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY Thursday, October 31, 2002 # “Stridulations” are a series of independent percussion compositions written by illy B (aka Billy Martin), of which two were performed on this date, one leading right into the other. The five performers were: MMW, Steven Bernstein, and percussionist Carl Nilsen. * w/ DJ Spooky + w/ Mauro Refosco ^ w/ Smokey Hormel % w/ Uninvisible Horns of NYC: Steven Bernstein – trumpet, slide trumpet, director Briggan Krauss – alto sax Howard Johnson – tuba Curtis Hasselbring – trombone |
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| 2003-10-31.akg393.retracked.122619.t-flac16 [TSP-Halloween #6] Beacon Theater, New York, NY Friday, October 31, 2003 One Set Most of show w/ DJ Le Spam * w/ Marc Ribot + w/ Spam Allstars horn section: –Mercedes Abal on flute –AJ Hill on Alto Sax –John Speck on trombone –Steve Welsh on Baritone Sax |
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| 2003-10-31.mg200.112716.t-flac16 [TSP-Halloween #7] Beacon Theater, New York, NY Friday, October 31, 2003 One Set Most of show w/ DJ Le Spam * w/ Marc Ribot + w/ Spam Allstars horn section: –Mercedes Abal on flute –AJ Hill on Alto Sax –John Speck on trombone –Steve Welsh on Baritone Sax |
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 MMW w/ Ribot – Halloween 2001 |
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| 2004-10-31.cad-equitek-e200(d1+d2)+mg200(d3).27302.t-flac [TSP-Halloween #8] Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY Sunday, October 31, 2004 One Set # with Antibalas Horn Section * cover of a song by Ethiopian keyboardist/composer Mulatu Astatqe, from the album “Liberty” (1974) ^ with Cyro Baptista (exact performance tunes unconfirmed, but sounds like these are the tracks) |
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| 2004-10-31.mg200.112717.t-flac16 [TSP-Halloween #9] Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY Sunday, October 31, 2004 One Set # with Antibalas Horn Section * cover of a song by Ethiopian keyboardist/composer Mulatu Astatqe, from the album “Liberty” (1974) ^ with Cyro Baptista (exact performance tunes unconfirmed, but sounds like these are the tracks) |
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| 2005-10-31.audix-1290-hc.31643.t-flac16 [TSP-Halloween #10] Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY Monday, October 31, 2005 One Set Entire show w/ Cyro Baptista + w/ SLAM (50+ piece band fronted by Kenny Wolleson & Jonathon Haffner) |
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 MMW – Halloween 2004 |
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| 2006-10-31.akg393.80135.t-flac16 [TSP-Halloween #11] Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY Tuesday, October 31, 2006 One Set # with Flora Purim (vocals) * with Sharon Jones (vocals) with Dave Tronzo (guitar) & Airto Moreira (percussion) for the entire show |
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| 2006-10-31.audix1290.79797.t-flac16 [TSP-Halloween #12] Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY Tuesday, October 31, 2006 One Set # with Flora Purim (vocals) * with Sharon Jones (vocals) with Dave Tronzo (guitar) & Airto Moreira (percussion) for the entire show |
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| 2006-10-31.schoeps-mk41.79897.t-flac16 [TSP-Halloween #13] Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY Tuesday, October 31, 2006 One Set # with Flora Purim (vocals) * with Sharon Jones (vocals) with Dave Tronzo (guitar) & Airto Moreira (percussion) for the entire show |
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| 2008-10-31.senn-k6.95827.t-flac [TSP-Halloween #14] Yebisu The Garden Hall, Tokyo, Japan Friday, October 31, 2008 One Set # with Cyro Baptista * with Jamie Cullum + WISM? Super Session with Shacho/Motoharu/tabu zombie/Midorin of Soil & “Pimp” Sessions |
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THE SHACK STREAM
LISTEN/DOWNLOAD ANOTHER SHOW!
FAITU#2
FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN THE UNIVERSE
(FAITU#2)
2004-08-06
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| Trouble playing tunes? | ||||
Chris Wood 2004-05-28 @Harmony Park Music Garden, Geneva, MN
Source info:
2004-08-06.dpa4022.26327.t-flac16
– SET I (tracks 1-7) –
– SET II (tracks 8-15) –
– SHACK THOUGHTS –
FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN THE UNIVERSE (FAITU#2)
The Shack Project celebrates MMW @25 years!
For this 2nd instance of FAITU we jump ahead from the previous week by 11 years to find ourselves in the summer of 2004 where MMW played a mix of festival gigs, openers for The Roots, as well as some of their own shows. This week’s selection is a 2 set affair from Colorado in early August …
2004 was a golden year of improvisation for MMW. End Of The World Party (Just In Case) would be released in the fall, and the guys had started playing some of those tunes as early as fall ’03, with winter ’04 finding even more new tunes popping up. We’ll get some of those new tunes in the 2nd set of this show, along with some old favourites, but the first set will be almost entirely new to everyone, aside from the last tune, and it will happen only once: We’re looking at about 45min of pure spontaneous composition, and the band is *on*!
MMW 2004-05-28 @Harmony Park Music Garden, Geneva, MN
Starting with the first set:
Track#2, first Improv, starts with the band exploring the fringes of space before Chris plunks some key notes just around 1.5min in and suddenly a whole tune begins to develop, slow groove-like. At 3min we hit a set of very affirmative chords from John and things are sounding celebratory in a low-key way for a bit before some nasty sounding keys urge Billy into a little more chaos, while Chris continues with the sluggish bassline he’s created. John is toying around, settles into the Clavinet and we’re off into a sluggy funk with a bit of a Night Marchers-ish vibe — oh yeah, I’m liking this! Change up into an organ interjection, busy fills from Billy, and Chris keeps milking that bassline to great effect. illyB kicks it up a notch just before 6min and really starts wailing and finishing out that groove, while John and Chris follow him into some outer-space for the last couple of minutes on track #2.
Chris and Billy lock into a quick paced bottom for track #3 and John jumps into the fray bubbling over top. Organ jabs just after a minute in while Chris and Billy continue developing the bottom end — suddenly we’re into yet another killer spontaneous composition! Where do these melodies and beats all come from!?!? John’s working both the Clav and organ now as both Chris and Billy bust their parts open more and start filling in the sound. We hit a “bridge” in the tune around 3.5min, then John and Chris bring us back around to the groove we’d started with — this is cool shit! After milking this for a bit longer they start bending the structure they’d established while still echoing back to it, pushing us further on with John on organ and Chris on stand-up — this feels kind of like LCTDT(P) — until the eruption of an illyB solo! It’s short and more of just a connector joining to the next groove than a full on Billy solo, in the usual sense (if MMW can be said to have a “usual”). Chris is the first to jump back in with Billy, with John not too far behind, and this is subtly building layers onto Billy’s beat, which he keeps breaking into with percussive colouring or some off-beat fills — this piece carries onto the next track …
… John slides onto the Rhodes(?) and really takes control of this groove’s direction, and all three are locked in. Eventually the tempo really picks up and they spend about 2min breaking this down … slowly … @6:17 a new groove begins out of the remnants of the noise left by the previous, beginning with almost a Combustication-like sound before John backs off a bit, and Chris steps in with a quick pulse and Billy’s tinkering leads to him riding the cowbell. As this progresses we head into similar territory as the tune We Are Rolling — structure-wise — and it is ROCKING! Billy is just pounding his kit, John’s going crazy, and Chris is holding down the groove.
The pick up at the end of the last track leads into this next Improvisation, and Chris is the one pushing the other two.
This last Improv sounds similar in spirit to If I Only Knew — the melody sounds recognizable, but sometimes I’ve listened to some of these improvisations so many times that it’s hard to distinguish *why* something sounds familiar. And it almost sounds like Chris is tinkering with the Queen Bee bassline way back here, 3min before the tune bubbles up to close the set — love the slinky groove of Queen Bee! (I keep thinking of my wife dancing to the tune when we first got the EOTWPjic album – HA!)
Wood & Martin 2004-05-28 @Harmony Park Music Garden, Geneva, MN
And then the second set:
I could listen to Toy Dancing at EVERY show — I love that swirling call from John! Love the different sections of this tune and band ride this one right into some open space before Billy and Chris buckle down together for a bit leading us in to the sassy Sasa, a new-ish tune at the time, with Billy on tambourine (he rocks the TAM!) and Chris plunks along the melody … Sasa holds inside the tune’s groove before leading us to ITAHTLMJ, a welcome tune any time as well (one of the earliest MMW tunes I remember hearing). Sasa slows right down, Billy keeps just the beat going, and suddenly we’re romping along for Jesus … a nice solid take on the tune — hard to hear a bad version, really, but this has some nice playfulness belonging to a “2004” take on the tune (i.e. John’s sounds).
Curtis, another new EOTWP tune, is always pumping and this one jumps right in full steam off the last beat of ITAHTLMJ driving ahead to explode into some welcome release on the drums by illyB, which gradually speeds us into some …
Fire! By Hendrix, that is — I love MMW’s take on Hendrix tunes because they bite right into them … and where there’s Fire, there’s Smoke. I always dig the combo of the two tunes, and Smoke brings us back in nicely from the Fire chaos.
Once the Smoke clears, Billy solicits the audience for a song, baffled by the choice, but obliging the fans nonetheless: Chubb Sub! And this ain’t your standard Chubb … a LENGTHY solo from Chris gets us to the start of Chubb, but the beginning saunters in with Medeski jumping in on some different sounds than usual — ya gotta hear it!
Ending your evening with Whiney Bitches might not *sound* appealing based on the title, but that groove is so FREAKIN’ awesome! Fantastic encore to end a KILLER gig … just one of several from 2004.
enjoy the grooves,
dug
THE SHACK STREAM
LISTEN/DOWNLOAD ANOTHER SHOW!
The Shack Project 