Blog Archives
FAITU#34
FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN THE UNIVERSE
(FAITU#34)
2003-06-26
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MMW @Deco Music Fest, Miami, FL 2003-01-19
Source info:
2003-06-26.dpa4023.128682.t-flac16
– ONE SET (tracks 1-22) –
– SHACK THOUGHTS –
FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN THE UNIVERSE (FAITU#34)
The Shack Project celebrates MMW @25 years!
Oh, hot summer Montreal … it’s a sticky town when it heats up, and we were staying in one of the McGill dorms which just seemed extra hot, with no air flow. But, the price was right at the time our little family made the trek west to the province of Québec into the fun city that is Montreal.
MMW 2004-05-28 @Harmony Park Music Garden, Geneva, MN
This was our 2nd time to the Montreal Jazz Fest, but first time since the late ‘90s and finally corresponding with MMW playing – I was excited, to say the least. My wife and I took our (at the time 8-year-old) daughter to the festival for her first time, and the experience of Montreal. If you’ve never been to the Montreal Jazz Fest, do yourself a favour and check it out. Lots and lots of fantastic music from around the world, and a wide palette to sample, and good for all tastes and ages. But it can make for a long day when you’re only 8 years old. The Kid was a super trooper, and wanted to enjoy the show – she drifted off briefly, and thankfully we had a stool for her to sit on and a counter for leaning. The Metropolis is a fantastic concert hall, with a general admission floor and then a balcony with curved rows of long tables/counters and accompanying stools. We were down near the front and had a perfect view. Didn’t see any microphones at the time, so I was doubtful of getting a recording of the gig – happy to have tracked this down shortly after the show! Because it was an incredible evening of music, and merger of sounds, so it’s freakin’ fabulous it’s been captured for us to hear today. BIG THANKS to the taper! Onto the show …
We got in some time after 9pm, I think, with the opening act starting around 10pm and playing an hour or so. I remember one of the bouncers telling our daughter to make sure we, my wife and I, behaved ourselves – he was counting on her to keep us line, he said. She found it funny, and so did we because she always kept us in line – we’ve always been the kids in this relationship, it seems …
Finally, it was MMW show time …
– ONE SET –
The band entered banging woodblocks – something I saw them do to start the 2nd set of my 2nd MMW show back in ’98 – so it’s a percussive start to the evening, with DJ P Love casting out some atmospheric filler during this opening Open Improvisation. Eventually P Love leaves the stage and Down On Me begins to burble up from the sounds into this full-on acoustic romp – love it! This was my first time hearing the song at a show, and it was new only that spring of ’03. We had a number of shows circulate speedily from the spring tour through this “new thang” called bittorrent (yep, blew my mind at the time! – still does to some extent), so the song sounded familiar to me but I didn’t really know it, and we never got a title for it until later in ’03, I think, maybe even later. Anyway, this tune is a wonderful excuse for John to tickle the ivories into submission, so I welcome it any time. (The Down On Me melody, as I’ve noted in other show notes, had been kicking around MMW’s musical consciousness for some time, but finally solidified into a full song in the spring of ’03.)
DJ P Love
As Down On Me fizzles out, Henduck rears its head out of the ether and was very welcome to my Shack-man era ears. Still just the trio on stage and they really milked this tune in all the right ways: a nice slow move into it out of Down On Me; then a slow build over Billy’s shaking with John’s organ vamp and Chris’ slow pulse; and then shit opens up and it gets real. Damn. By this point these cats can make Henduck dance in all the ways they want, with Medeski employing one of his ’03 key sounds (what is that? sounds almost warbly-woodwind-like? Is that the Wurlitzer?), and that sound tweaks Henduck ever so nicely.
Next up Nocturnal Transmission was nice to hear – I had to skip over seeing the band during the Uninvisible era (life, school, etc.), so I was real happy to be catching this tune. P Love comes back out and so does Russell Gunn on trumpet (also playing at the festival). Splashes of sounds throughout the opening of the tune with everyone contributing to create this bed of sound, and when the 2nd section of the song kicks in, where the tempo picks up like double-time (often tracked as a separate song on live shows) everyone is laying it all out. Gunn is utilizing some effects on his horn to muffle the sound considerably – I was indifferent to this at the gig, but it in retrospect it fits the vibe of the tune; I was merely hoping to hear the guy play in a clean trumpet sound and it never happened, not even during the set of his that we caught … seemed odd to me to always use some kind of effect. Anyway, it works here perfectly really, and Medeski is back to that ’03 warbly sound again, and eventually this entire monster groove wraps with a brief groovy solo from John.
Billy introduces the guests then delivers a brief percussion improvisation before slamming the kit, everyone joining at that moment, and some wild sounds begin to emerge, wiggling and familiar, but always just crawling around the eventual melody that will give way. P Love plays a sample where a woman says “let’s get to know the instruments one by one”, and then anything but your usual display of solo prowess ensues – the wild sounds just get wilder. It’s playful and open, but eventually Worms gives way and the ensemble on stage is relentless in its Worms exploration.
Russell Gunn
A Drum Solo wiggles out of Worms and Billy kicks it for a while by himself, but near the end of the solo track Foday Musa Suso comes out on a junkuran (hand drum) to join illyB, which develops into the introduction to Toy Dancing and Suso is finding pockets to fill in that intro, and then again during the tune proper – this guy is REALLY listening, and this tune is just the tip of the iceberg. Again, glad to hear this tune as I would be happy with a Toy Dancing at any and every show – I really dig that groove, the sound of the drum at the start, the dysfunctional way all the parts join together to create the overall sound. Damn. I hadn’t heard it since the first run of MMW shows my wife and I hit back in ’98, when it was so new that those performances were more like improvisations around the song’s theme than they were the song itself, which took shape just a night after our 2nd and last show of that spring ’98 tour. Gunn, who returned for this tune, is also laying a line over and weaving with Medeski that works really well here, again, the effects on his trumpet melding nicely into MMW’s vibe.
A brief pause as Billy introduces us to Foday Musa Suso, Gunn leaves the stage, Suso picks up his kora, Medeski swirls an organ intro, and I Wanna Ride You takes us on quite a ride. It takes a little over a minute before you can start to really pick Suso out in the mix, but then listen to the holes he fills and they give him a cool breakdown moment – the kora sounds amazing in here! Wonderful interaction with him and the band, a true quartet at work.
Another pause as Suso grabs his “violin” – this isn’t your standard western violin, but something in that family of sound but I believe comes from Suso’s culture. The “violin” has a creepy thin sound, dissonant, that weaves and cuts through the Smoke groove, once again finding gaps in the music for his input and infusing the band with new blood.
Next up, the set closes with the HEAVY bass-driven Uninvisible, which I was again happy to hear since I didn’t catch any of that album’s touring, along with the other tracks from that album we caught on this night, and having the guests contribute to a number of those songs made them a little more special to hear on this night. Suso is back on the kora for the Uninvisible closer, again finding pockets, but P Love and Gunn are back on stage helping lay the bed of sound – everyone is playing together so well here, truly an ensemble unit. This version is THICK.
Foday Musa Suso (w/ kora)
Only P Love returns to the stage with MMW for the encore of one last Pappy Check, which sends us into the late night Montreal air just buzzing with groove …
We nudged our daughter awake by this point – she was in/out over the end of the show, which started at like 10pm with an opening act (not worth discussing – seriously, except to say what a waste of time! Sorry guys, that’s harsh, but opening for MMW was not the place for this group of players), so it was close to 1am when we got out of there (which was 2am by our internal clocks), but the Kid was jazzed up now after some rest so we wandered into the free late night sets to give her the full festival experience … and you can get a taste of that listening through on this fine Friday Afternoon In The Universe …
enjoy the grooves,
dug
THE SHACK STREAM
LISTEN/DOWNLOAD ANOTHER SHOW!
FAITU#26
FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN THE UNIVERSE
(FAITU#26)
2002-07-04
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MMW c.2002
Source info:
2002-07-04.fob.neumann-km184.11843.t-flac16
– SET I (tracks 1-6) –
– SET II (tracks 7-16) –
– SHACK THOUGHTS –
FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN THE UNIVERSE (FAITU#26)
The Shack Project celebrates MMW @25 years!
The Montréal theme picks back up after another absent week last Friday – sorry, folks, it’s summer and last minute plans to hit the sunshine/woods/beach can get in the way of sharing tunes … but I’m not going anywhere, so more tunes will always be coming, if a bit delayed, and of course The Shack Project is open 24/7/365 for streaming/downloading HUNDREDS of shows. But back to the gig at hand (or at ear?) …
Wood & Martin c.2002/03
– SET I –
Big Time > I Wanna Ride You kicks of the 1st set in fine energetic fashion, and then Brahim Fribgane joins the trio for Lifeblood and the sounds get a little more expansive and percussive over the rest of the set, and show when Trilok Gurtu joins in as well. Brahim adds a nice layer in Lifeblood that carries over into the plodding opening to Think – illyB and Brahim, along with John’s squonks, lay the bed that Wood bows over and moves to plucking, building up the tension as we wait for the Think melody to really kick in from John just before the 2min mark. There is some stellar piano work from John in the middle of this tune – like, wow! – before the tune opens into a Drums/Percussion session for a couple of minutes that eventually leads us to Fire! Hendrix-style, through an MMW lense … and where there’s Fire, there’s Smoke (sometimes the reverse) – a subtly groovy end to this pumping set. Clocking in at just under an hour, that is still some dense musicality to wade through – it’s about quality, not quantity. The set has a perfect overall feel and arc to it … the 2nd set gives us a little more quantity with our quality though …
Brahim Fribgane
– SET II –
After roughly a minute of sounds gurgling and building, the HEAVY Uninvisible bassline begins, everyone jumps in and this set is off to a HIGH energy start – there’s quite a sound palette on stage with the trio now that Charlie Hunter (8-string guitar) and Trilok Gurtu (tablas & percussion) have joined the mix in addition to Brahim. So when the Open Improv busts out the end of the track, it actually develops into this percussive heavy groove by the end of it before veering into a very smooth Improv on the next track, again with a heavy percussive feel. Oh yeah, this sounds real nice and eventually the melodic instruments drop out and we are in a full on drums jam – sweet! These guys are having fun together, lots of different toys in the mix, Billy (presumably) moves to the kit after a while as the other two(?) carry on with some more hand-based percussion. The Percussion Improv takes us into a jiggly Jelly Belly, and again so cool to hear the sounds the guests bring to this familiar tune, which opens into its common Drum Solo outro, but Billy is once again accompanied by our percussive guests who colour the classic Nostalgia In Times Square as well when the others join back in after the drum break. Interestingly, Nostalgia isn’t its usually medleyed-self since Sun Ra’s Angel Race (I’ll Wait For You) is absent from the performance, so instead we get a full fleshed-out take on this old tune with the life of these new young sounds.
Trilok Gurtu
Next up is Start/Stop, which is a groove I can’t get enough of. Love the way the tune pushes itself out into space, further and further with each “stop” break, again HEAVILY coloured by percussion, so these moments of open space have a little extra umph to them (and is Charlie absent here? Not sure I hear him? Sometimes he’s getting lost in the mix though, so …). Just when you’re not sure if the open space is just pushing out further only to “start” again into the main melody, or whether the band is just pushing out into open space more, suddenly a beat starts @11:20 of the track and we are instantly Toy Dancing – nice! Love when Billy starts that beat on his hand drum. So this has a nice slow burn for a start as the percussive groove builds up more and more, creating a bit of tension to finally be released when the tune kicks in a bit more, Billy moves to the kit and the groove settles out – not sure if that’s Trilok on vocals? I think so … only show we have with the guy, and I don’t recall Brahim ever vocalizing in the past. Charlie steps up nicely in Toy Dancing for an extended solo, before the track eventually simmers down to more percussion interaction and then eventual silence, followed by some line-up announcements by Billy.
A high energy combo of Pappy Check > The Lover, so new > old, closes the set. Oddly, it sounds to my ears like both Brahim and Trilok have left the stage when Pappy Check begins, leaving only Charlie to guest on this tune, but then it seems like those guys return to close out the set on The Lover.
Charlie Hunter
And then as the encore, for the first time in 2002, Bubblehouse is played much to the crowd’s delight! (I sometimes wonder if folks calling for “Bubblehouse” at every show even know *what* song they’re requesting, but I digress.) Billy announces they’re going to play this song for the LAST TIME ever simply because of the very special guests – last time Charlie played with them in ’96 Bubblehouse was one of the tunes – but that they don’t play this song anymore, and this is basically it. (They do play the song again, but not until 2003 which only has like 2 performances, 2004 has 4 takes on the track, and it starts coming back a bit more after than until we get to the Radiolarians years, after which Bubblehouse makes a triumphant return being the *only* song requested for *every* show on the band’s 2011 tour where they solicited audience requests for their first sets along the tour, and improvised the 2nd sets.) And the version’s intense Bubbles bring the House down!
So anyway, this is a very HEADY version of Bubblehouse so soak it up and check out this whole show top-to-bottom as you enjoy your Friday Afternoon In The Universe …
enjoy the grooves,
dug
THE SHACK STREAM
LISTEN/DOWNLOAD ANOTHER SHOW!
FAITU#24+#25
FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN THE UNIVERSE
(FAITU#24 & #25)
2000-07-05
2001-06-29
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~ 2000-07-05 ~
MMW c.2002/03
Source info:
2000-07-05.sony-lapel.5588.t-flac16
– SET 1 (tracks 1-9) –
– SET 2 (tracks 10-20) –
– SHACK THOUGHTS — The Shack Project celebrates MMW @25 years!
FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN THE UNIVERSE (FAITU#24)
It’s been a busy couple of weeks, being on the road out of town for the Fridays, so I’m making it up a bit this week, sharing shows #24 & #25 for FAITU’s 25th week, the theme of which will extend over several weeks throughout the summer.
Festival Int’l de Jazz de Montréal.
MMW in Montreal, for this Canadian fan was a sweet deal. Unfortunately, I was unable to make it the first few times, but did catch a couple of the Montreal “events”. Each time MMW played Montreal it was a little special, at least to my ears. Always more than you might find from the trio at other festivals – not to say other festivals haven’t featured some killer MMW, which often depends on time slots, but Montreal seemed to always offer a good slot which afforded the band the chance to really put on an “MMW show”, rather than a more typical festival set.
This week we’ll dig into the first Montreal Fest gig from 2000, and the following year’s return in 2001.
MMW c.2002/03
** Wednesday, July 05, 2000 **
Medeski Martin & Wood w/ Marc Ribot, George Garzone, Mino Cinelu & DJ Logic
– SET I –
We Are Rolling has to be one of the BEST opening tunes. Ever. Killer version that stretches out there a bit into that wacked reggae mid-section before wrapping around and drifting into the Latin love of Brigas Nunca Mais. Macha starts a run that leads the trio through to the end of the set, first finding comfort in twisting out ITAHTLMJ before the Latin beat pushes forth again with Latin Shuffle, featuring solos from illyB and Chris before an Open Improv leads to the set closer Swamp Road, which is a super groovy way to close the set, surprisingly played without Logic on stage, who comes out next set. Love when MMW give you a full trio set before settling in with some guests for an evening, and this hour of music – before the 2hr 2nd set – is more than satisfying on its own. But how great for there to be a 2nd set …
MMW c.2000
– SET II –
With a full stage of musicians, the set begins in some open exploration of HUGE LAYERED sound – everyone is looking for their pocket and gradually the sound breaks down a bit, thins out, as various musical conversations erupt across the stage, interjections interrupting ideas while others flow a little more smoothly. All the while, those on stage are working together towards something meaningful. This is beautiful to hear even if it is ugly and harsh to start. As we approach the 5min mark of the opening Improvisation a groove has settled and Garzone and Ribot have been zapping each other with Medeski playing along. This develops into a solid groove and track #2’s Improv is really like a natural outgrowth of the first Improv’s development – but also sounds DAMN familiar! Like a crossbreed of Note Bleu (played later in the set) & Smoke (debuts over a year later). Whatever it is, it once again has fantastic interplay between the three lead voices (Medeski, Garzone, & Ribot) while the rhythm section (Martin, Wood, & Cinelu) lays the bed for the play – and of course, nobody adheres strictly to these roles, but that’s a general breakdown. This slides nicely into Start/Stop which fits this group so well, moving through a cool Percussion/Logic breakdown into Dracula – which has this odd percussive “boom-boom” at the end of the usual bassline melody run, presumably initiated by Cinelu, and it adds a cool twist to Dracula’s usual sly groove, making it bumpier. A Percussion/Logic Improv gains some momentum for a couple of minutes before launching into the Sugar Craft groove, where the solo hat gets passed around to wonderful effect. The Sugar groove just keeps pushing out there landing in Hey Joe – now, it sounds to me like the guests have left the stage or are silent for this tune, but then you can hear them in the final outro chord crescendo which oddly just leads to silence. After a quick break Note Bleu kicks in – reminding us of that earlier improvisation – and the guests are throwing in full on this tune, extending it nicely to lead into the EVER welcome Africa. Africa once again allows the ensemble to breathe together and show off a bit for each other before driving us home with the Bubblehouse groove – complete madness with these 6 players on stage.
Moti Mo, with all these cats, is so full and rich – and when Garzone belts in with the melody on his tenor sax it all just feels so right … what a wonderful celebration Moti Mo is for ending an evening. I often think of it as a quieter number, but the build that rises over the performance, as the solo hat is passed around and group interplay weaves those moments, it really brings the energy way up – yeah, a celebration!
=================================
** Friday, June 29, 2001 ** >>> 2001-06-29
And so begins our run through MMW’s history at the Festival Int’l de Jazz de Montréal.
As always, BIG THANKS to the tapers, and a special shout-out to Blane Harvey for all his work in getting Canadian shows taped and/or shared – as a fellow Canuck, I’m forever grateful, and I’m sure the other MMW Shackers are too! Not sure if you’re still out there, Blane, but next time MMW hit Montreal we gotta have a beer together!
More Montreal MMW Madness coming over the next few Friday Afternoons In The Universe …
enjoy the grooves,
dug
2001-06-29
MMW 2001-06-24 @Toronto Jazz Festival, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Source info:
2001-06-29.mbho603-200.5589.t-flac16
– ONE SET (tracks 1-16) –
– SHACK THOUGHTS — The Shack Project celebrates MMW @25 years!
FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN THE UNIVERSE (FAITU#24)
It’s been a busy couple of weeks, being on the road out of town for the Fridays, so I’m making it up a bit this week, sharing shows #24 & #25 for FAITU’s 25th week, the theme of which will extend over several weeks throughout the summer.
Festival Int’l de Jazz de Montréal.
MMW in Montreal, for this Canadian fan was a sweet deal. Unfortunately, I was unable to make it the first few times, but did catch a couple of the Montreal “events”. Each time MMW played Montreal it was a little special, at least to my ears. Always more than you might find from the trio at other festivals – not to say other festivals haven’t featured some killer MMW, which often depends on time slots, but Montreal seemed to always offer a good slot which afforded the band the chance to really put on an “MMW show”, rather than a more typical festival set.
This week we’ll dig into the first Montreal Fest gig from 2000, and the following year’s return in 2001.
** Wednesday, July 05, 2000 ** >>> 2000-07-05
** Friday, June 29, 2001 **
Medeski Martin & Wood w/ John Scofield & DJ Logic
– ONE SET –
Exploring some open space that’s really just a loose intro to Bone Digger – once again letting the Montreal crowd know that the trio is not just laying down your typically groovy funked-out festival set – they are here to find new sounds with this festival audience, and that’s what they do. MMW keep Digging the Bones – man this tune is wacked! – and this dying groove slides into the more upbeat Big Time and lets the band welcome the crowd with a bit more friendly sounds, and begins a run of some more groovier numbers that should get the crowd dancing.
MMW 2001-06-24 @Toronto Jazz Festival, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Big Time, always a nice big groove itself, moves into its outro as some Coconut Boogaloo emerges, coloured by some nice Medeski piano work, sprinkled with a small illyB solo, some raunchy bass fuzz from Wood, and joined by Logic near the end of the tune before we head into the PHAT groove of Jelly Belly – it’s THICK! Some wonderful back and forth between Medeski and Logic on this tune before it busts into a Drum Solo … and interestingly, since he’s onstage, but Logic doesn’t join in with illyB … a few years previous, when Logic was a on tour more often with the trio he and Billy would regularly jam off one another when John and Chris dropped out.
The sweet bassline of ITAHTLMJ pops up next, some wonderful screeching from John’s keys on the main theme, Logic jumping into the fray, while Billy propels us along. A solid take on the tune with Logic bits for intrigue, but then the tune drifts into some short open space exploration that leads us into the crazy Felic groove – it’s a weird tune and I love it for that reason; not easy listening.
More wacky Open Improvisation follows Felic, and Scofield finally joins the fray in the aftermath, tinkering as his sound cuts right into the Open Space – he’s unmistakable, much to the chagrin of some, and to the joy of the rest of us. The overall sound thins out as Medeski, Sco and Logic trade some “licks”, illyB gets his talking drum in there, Chris plunks a little, and it all drops into The Dropper. For you Sco haters out there, just check out the imagination on this tune as he creates his own part throughout the song – this is NOT a tune Sco guests on, usually, but this is the 2nd – and last – time within a week, so he’s not oblivious to the song, but still! Very interesting to hear Sco’s input on The Dropper, vs. Ribot’s (plays on the album version and a couple of live performances).
MMW c.2001
Next up, another MMW live staple, Partido Alto has Logic and Scofield adding new textures, before we get to some Scofield tunes from the A Go Go album he made with MMW a few years prior. The title track, nice slinky groove, and Hottentot, a rocking groove, follow next with Sco taking charge a bit for those tunes. (An aside: I caught Sco at the Montreal Fest in ’98 after the release of A Go Go. He was the featured musician that year so he played like 5 nights with different ensembles, so we caught the A Go Go night with Bill Stewart, Larry Golding, and some terribly boring bass player (seriously, especially in comparison to Wood’s input on the album itself), but the overall music was incredible; then we caught Sco with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and finally got to stand and dance at the festival – upon request from the DDBB to get our butts shakin’!)
The guests remain onstage until the end of the show, but we’re back to some MMW live show tunes again, with first Note Bleu – another chance for comparing Sco’s input to Ribot’s album take – resulting in a hefty Bass Solo intro into the Hendrix tune, Third Stone From The Sun – again, Logic fits nicely in here, as usual, and cool to hear Sco’s take on the rock number. MMW’s take on the Hendrix tune is ALWAYS a treat!
The Hendrix theme continues into the encore, and so do the guests, with a PUMPING Crosstown Traffic to close out the evening.
And so begins our run through MMW’s history at the Festival Int’l de Jazz de Montréal.
As always, BIG THANKS to the tapers, and a special shout-out to Blane Harvey for all his work in getting Canadian shows taped and/or shared – as a fellow Canuck, I’m forever grateful, and I’m sure the other MMW Shackers are too! Not sure if you’re still out there, Blane, but next time MMW hit Montreal we gotta have a beer together!
More Montreal MMW Madness coming over the next few Friday Afternoons In The Universe …
enjoy the grooves,
dug
THE SHACK STREAM
LISTEN/DOWNLOAD ANOTHER SHOW!
The Shack Project 