(Originally appeared in the November 24, 1999 edition of The UMass Daily Collegian)

 

Jazz trio delights crowd at the Calvin Theatre

 

NORTHAMPTON—The improvisational jazz trio Medeski, Martin, and Wood finished up their fall tour Monday night by playing to a jam-packed and awe-inspired crowd at The Calvin Theatre. Seamlessly roaming from one piece to another, MMW displayed how they can not only jam together with Zen-like grace, but also put on stunning 15 minute solo eruptions that leave audiences roaring with approval.

 

DJ Logic, who appears on several tracks from MMW's latest release Combustication, opened the night with his newly formed four-man group Project Logic, which was surprisingly impressive for a DJ-driven jam band. Logic's slow, methodical spinning provided a haunting background for the group's most adept performer, Casey Benjamin, who played alto saxophone, flute, and keyboards.

 

Only 15 minutes into Project Logic's set, Chris Wood took the stage with his upright bass. Billy Martin soon followed with his maracas, and John Medeski sat down at the keyboards. Following DJ Logic's lead, the seven musicians played a rambling and rambunctious hour-long set.

 

MMW then took over the stage to swarming cheers and immediately began what would become a non-stop two-hour set spanning jazz, blues, funk, and jam rock.

 

Medeski bounced back and forth like a gyrating octopus between four keyboards, either pounding the keys with fury or gently roaming up and down the scale. Always in motion, Medeski ranged between boards effortlessly and flowed between songs without pausing, never giving the audience more than a second to applaud.

 

I half-expected Chris Wood to snap one of the strings on his upright bass he was playing it so furiously, and these strings look more like telephone cables than guitar strings. Alternating between the upright, his bass guitar, and another smaller guitar, Wood had to pause at times to cool down his hand, though only momentarily.

 

The area around Billy Martin was covered with every possible percussion gadget you could imagine. Alternating between countless chimes, rattles, maracas of every shape and size, and a small gong, Martin spent only half of the night playing his more customary drum set, but made every second count when he did.

 

MMW played many songs off their new album including the upbeat opening track "Sugar Crait," the happy, head-bopping tune "Coconut Boogaloo," and the mellower "Hypnotized." All songs were greatly improvised, though, and often the group would wander off on some terrific tangent, only to return right on track to the original beat, finishing up the song amidst shouts and applause.

 

DJ Logic appeared late in the set to provide some sonic soup for the band to jam in, and Casey Benjamin took the stage with his sax for the last few songs.

 

Before the band played its encore, Martin asked the crowd to vote by applause for one of the band's two premiere songs, "Bubblehouse" or "Chubb Sub," and reminded them that this would be the last time they would play it in this millennium, or possibly ever. "Chubb Sub" won and the group sank into another soulful tune to end the night and their tour.

 

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