But every so often, a handful of people calling themselves musicians come around who have very different ideas about creating sound using musical instruments. Although they might have been brought up (and even excelled) in a highly established and recognizable musical tradition, the path they now travel is fresh, uncharted terrain. While they are fully capable of playing nice, it really doesn't interest them as much as creating strange and beautiful sounds with their instruments does. And at that point, their instruments then truly become exactly that: instruments. Tools that are used to effectively translate brain impulses into sonic sculpture. This, to me, is a momentous re-definition of music. This is the state of jazz in our fledgling 21st century. This is the essence of Medeski, Martin, and Wood.

MMW rolled through Boston on the evening of June 18 as part of the city's annual Jazz and Blues Festival, and for a steep $40, one could witness the myriad wonders of the trio's aural musings. As an MMW devotee might tell you, the band might go one of several ways during the course of a show: hard, deep grooves, laid-back and loose, or generally undanceable deconstruction-of-sound abstraction. The band opted, for the most part, for a very loose and rolling evening of music. To me, the hallmark of the evening was the band's extraordinary listening skills and each member's willingness to leave space for others to fill. Solos were prevalent from the very first tune of the evening. Keyboardist John Medeski laid out a highly melodic solo on his piano, as did bassist Chris Wood on his upright. As things moved along, though, the sounds grew increasingly more inventive. Wood, during his bass solo, took to finger-tapping the body of his instrument in order to accompany his bass lines percussively. Drummer Billy Martin slid out from behind his drum kit and went to work on various hand-picked percussion items from around the world, which a friend of mine can only describe as "dried bean pods and shrunken heads". Throughout, though, the groove was never lost.

This may be the hallmark of MMW's sound: the groove. No matter how obscurely they may syncopate, no matter how "out" they go, the groove remains and will return. You can count on it like you can count on the sun rising. But the groove of MMW is a very different breed than the electronica-influenced groove that has become so prevalent as of late. In contrast to this new movement, I can only describe MMW's groove as organic and loose. I think the key lies in Martin's drumming, which draws heavily upon Latin rhythms as well as Hip Hop. He is not afraid to play behind the beat a little and to let it swing. At times it may sound like he is taking too many chances and is risking losing the groove, but he and his bandmates have mastered the incredible balancing act of syncopated phrasing and always landing on the One when they feel it appropriate. And when MMW locks in and grooves, they groove with the best of them. The secret ingredient is most likely their tendency towards that little bit of measured chaos: Medeski dropping an elbow on the rhodes or actually mule-kicking the piano behind him for accent, Wood open-hand slapping all four strings of his bass, Martin aggressively taking mallets to his hardware. This degree of chaos within the groove is the frontier that MMW is pushing, this is the lateral thinking that distinguishes them in the tradition of jazz.

Gutarist John Scofield joined the band on stage midway through their set for a couple of tunes, including a rendition of Peter Tosh's "Legalize It". Surprisingly, the quartet did not dip into material from Scofield's album "A Go Go," on which MMW serves as his band. The cameo featured some nice interplay between Scofield and Martin, as well as a mindbender of a guitar solo, only to be followed by an even more mindbending jam led by Medeski's signature Hammond B-3.

While some argue that when Scofield sits in he relegates MMW to role of backing band, their collaboration at FleetBoston was one of symbiosis. Each musician was very adept at using silence to the music's advantage, not assaulting listeners with a barrage of sound as they sometimes do. The mood was patient, calm, and relaxed. At times, it almost seemed that each took more pleasure in listening to their bandmate work than actually playing over them. This, to me, is good practice. Not only for musicians, but for humans in general.

After Scofield's departure, the trio dug into some more groove-heavy material, which got the crowd clapping. This is a mixed blessing in a venue as large as FleetBoston, but instead of trying to synchronize, the band pared down, and Wood took another bass solo, using not only the clapping, but the echo of the clapping to mark time. A nifty trick, to say the least. When the band came back out, they brought Brahim Fribgane,* Moroccan percussionist extraordinaire, who would join them for the rest of the set. After a quick, furious tune in 7/4 time and a tasty drumkit solo from Martin, the group broke out with a cover of Coltrane's "Afro Blue." This, along with "Legalize It" were first-time listens for me, and I was impressed with the signature MMW twist given to each. The set closed with the title track from MMW's latest studio effort, "Uninvisible," whose bass-heavy beats sent people bobbing their heads off into the night.

It is, to me, a strange phenomenon to see MMW play venues such as FleetBoston, which is an oversized tent that seats 3,000+. The band cultivated their sound in the small jazz clubs of New York City, and to hear such as sound in a venue that for all intents and purposes is a small amphitheater, does not sit quite right. But since MMW's unique style of music is becoming more and more recognized by music fans, demand puts them in venues such as FleetBoston. This seems to be the norm for the summer months, as MMW is making appearances at numerous festivals, including last weekend's Bonnaroo music festival, and the more local Berkshire Mountain Music Festival this August. While it still seems more out of place than the band playing at a venue such as Lupo's in Providence, MMW has never been about limits and boundaries. Where there are people to listen, I am sure that MMW will play, and in doing so will continue to spread their unique brand of sound-sculpting that is becoming the pacesetter for jazz in the 21st century.

-David Taus

*Be sure to check back with Live Live on June 24, 2003 when Brahim and Club d'Elf founder Mike Rivard will be making an on-air appearance on Live Live. We will be talking about d'Elf's upcoming gig at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts on July 2nd, Moroccan music, and a host of other topics. Included in the lineup for the MFA event are Mike Rivard (bass), Brahim Fribgane (percussion), John Medeski (keyboards), Dave Tronzo (slide guitar), and Erik Kerr (drums).