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Progressive jazz fusionists
MMW, an acronym for Medeski, Martin and Wood,
were formed in New York City, New York, USA, in
the early 90s. At the beginning their shows together
were regarded as part of a "connoisseur's
scene' at clubs such as the Knitting Factory.
From their inception, the participants" jazz
skills were tempered by soul, funk and rock embellishments.
Their national tours soon won them a much broader
cross-section of supporters, as the band deliberately
attempted to secure a young, open-minded audience.
John Medeski (keyboards), Billy Martin (drums/percussion)
and Chris Wood (bass) could boast of previous
stints in such celebrated underground acts as
the Either/Orchestra and the Lounge Lizards. As
Medeski told the press, "Our deal is to try
to take improvised music - an elevated art form
- and bring it down to earth. And if the kids
dig it, then maybe we can help turn them on to
Miles or Coltrane or Mingus. That'd be cool."
As a testament to the group's wide-ranging appeal,
they were invited to support the rock band Phish
a unit similarly committed to improvised live
performance - at their sold-out New Orleans date
at the State Theater in 1995. MMW have also supported
artists as diverse as Los Lobos and Morphine,
while members have contributed to studio projects
by Biz Markie, Rickie Lee Jones and were crucial
to the success of John Scofield's A Go Go.
Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio
subsequently joined MMW onstage for later shows,
while Medeski contributed to his solo album, Surrender
To The Air. A series of albums for Gramavision
cemented MMW's rise and confirmed the viability
of their intentions to popularize contemporary
jazz. Friday Afternoon In The Universe was arguably
the best of these. It included "Chubb Sub",
which was featured on the soundtrack to the hit
movie, Get Shorty. The trio subsequently signed
to Blue Note Records, releasing the excellent
Combustication and the live acoustic set Tonic.
The more avant garde textures of The Dropper and
Uninvisible demonstrated their willingness to
experiment, mixing acid jazz, funk, gospel and
turntablism to great effect.
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