medeski martin and wood are baaaaad bad mo' fu'as

i had the fortune of seeing these dudes back in december at higher ground in burlingtown. no, there are no lyrics so you don't need to follow the words, and no, they are not on the radio. but yes, at all moments, they are working harder than any other musician (or for that matter, any other dude who can cower behind a computer, slice-up other peoples material, change the beat, press space bar and call it their own club remix, dance music or whatever the hell you damn kids are into these days. and THEY become famous for it and get to dj the holiday dance. hah bumbug, but that's neither here nor there.) THESE guys are spontaneous; improvising and conversing, owning their instrument, time, and space, but simultaneously focused to the nano-second (especially the drummer Billy Martin, who spines this weirdly grown skeleton). They all have their own little-big jobs, I deduced: Martin holdin it down on percussion, forever changing it. Accenting off/on Chris Woods low ends (bass) and John Medeski's high organic trills (organ). The ultimate love triangle/power trio. No one crowds each other's air, but they are free to play absolutely anything. but don't get me wrong, there is structure to this creature (chorus and repeated themes and all that). Some call it jazz but i don't know the last Coltrane or Thelonious album that made me groove this hard. it's different music that takes you into a different setting and state of mind. i felt like a was scratching a really good itch the entire night. i was altered. it was toight. did i mention how absolutely filthy these guys are at their instruments? check out their new release, radiolarians: they pioneered this system where they wrote and worked out material on the road, then recorded it, then repeated the process two more times. yielding three discs that have been on somewhat constant rotation at my house. toight. note: medeski is mouthing the notes to himself as he plays them. sick? yes.