MEDESKI MARTIN & WOOD Blue Note Club, London, England Wednesday, March 19, 1997 One Set: Organ/Improv Intro > Macha > Wiggly’s Way, Beeah, The Lover > Open Improv Intro > Dracula > Henduck, Think, Bubblehouse, Night Marchers, Organ Intro > Jelly Belly > Drum Solo, Bass Solo > Bemsha Swing/Lively Up Yourself, Crosstown Traffic Encore: Chubb Sub One Set
Trouble playing tunes?

MMW promo c.1996/97

Source info:
1997-03-19.os.schoeps-cmc621.1592.t-flac16

– ONE SET (tracks 1-15) –

– SHACK THOUGHTS –
Another single-set show, and like the Austrian gig from the 16th we’re still hearing Shackman-era tunes, which is interesting because by the time they hit the states near the start of April the band will have basically introduced an entirely new repertoire — did they write a lot of the tunes in the break between this short Europe run and the tour in the States? If they had the tunes, why not play them in Europe as well? Who knows! What we get here is one of the last shows before the Combustication-era tunes enter MMW’s live repertoire, changing the sound of the band once again, much like the Shackman tunes did … and FAITU tunes before that … do you see a pattern too? A band that is constantly morphing and evolving — looking forward to what’s next!

For now, enjoy this set from London … cool Organ jam gets things rolling … I’m especially fond of the Beeah, Dracula > Henduck, and the Bemsha/Lively, but they just stand out for me in an already fantastic set with the band owning these tunes, and this recording is once again stellar, as all these March ’97 gigs are …

SPRING 1997
And so we begin down the 1997 gig road. For me, I’ve been glad to have acquired what we do have of 1997 which seems to be a lowly circulated year. When I first listened to MMW in ’96 I had a number of tapes from 1995-1996 and then finally got to see the band in the Spring of 1998 for the first time — it was like seeing a different band in some respects. The key I’d been missing is having heard any 1997 material which to me seems like a huge transitional year for the band. They broke out a number of tunes in ’97 we never really saw much of not long afterwards (Disrobe, Fast Clicks) as well as the band having debuted many of the tunes that would end up on Combustication.

So enjoy these ’97 grooves folks and follow the evolution of, IMHO, the tightest improvisational group I’ve had the pleasure of hearing.

enjoy the grooves,
dug

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