The band draws on influences from a number of musical traditions, from funk to Hip Hop, and is known for an unconventional style sometimes described as "avant-groove".
MMW has found moderate mainstream success—often working with noted guitarist John Scofield—and touring on the jam band circuit.
The band members were introduced to each other by jazz drummer Bob Moses, who had performed with Medeski and Wood , and was Martin's instructor.
Medeski Martin & Wood's first performances together were at the Village Gate, a popular New York jazz club. They were initially an acoustic jazz trio, but Medeski added a Hammond organ when the difficulties of touring with a piano became apparent. Their first album, Notes from the Underground, is a record of their entirely-acoustic era. All of their subsequent albums reveal Medeski's use of a wide variety of keyboards, including mellotron, melodica, and a clavinet. Wood entirely eschewed the electric bass for MMW's first three albums, and still relies heavily on the acoustic upright bass in recordings and during live performances. Their earlier albums reveal a Hip Hop influenced updating of classic soul jazz sounds, which is the primary theme of their well-known 1996 album, Shack-man.
The band received some of their first significant exposure outside of the New York City jazz scene by performing with Phish at their October 14, 1995 concert, which led to the association of the group as a jam band.[1] In addition, their performance on John Scofield's 1997 album A Go Go helped to further their exposure. The band collaborated further with Scofield again in 2006, releasing the album Out Louder under the name Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood. This was the first album released on MMW's own Indirecto Records.
From 1998–2005, MMW were signed to leading jazz label Blue Note Records, and showed them delving deeper into dense, electronic funk than their earlier albums, although the band continued to experiment with free jazz and free improvisation both on their albums and in concert.
Medeski Martin & Wood's live performances are renowned for their exploratory nature. Their concerts usually involve extended improvisations, which may be both arrhythmic and atonal, an aspect of their musicianship that is rarely documented in the studio. They occasionally tour using only acoustic instruments, reverting back to the instrumentation that they began their career with. Their album Tonic is an example of these more contemporary acoustic performances. They have also done short tours of entirely improvisatory performances. These shows usually consisted of two sets of improvisation, followed by an encore of a song from an album.
Their song "End of the World Party" was featured on the show Grey's Anatomy and can be found on the show's soundtrack.
Each of the trio's three members are involved in a large music community, and have participated in numerous side projects over the years.
In 2001 John Medeski collaborated with the North Mississippi Allstars and slide-guitarist Robert Randolph; together, these five musicians formed The Word, a bluesy gospel band. They released one self-titled album and toured extensively.
Beginning around 2005 Chris Wood formed The Wood Brothers with his brother, blues guitarist Oliver Wood. They have released several albums to date and continue to tour and record together.
In 2007 John Medeski and Billy Martin released an album as a duo, called Mago. They performed that material together at the 2007 Bonnaroo Music Festival
Start-Stop
Medeski Martin and Wood Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Kasami ira u
Sunami isa ro
Tukino muko o
Seka i no ja tedema a te ru
Mai agare
Ochimi dayuyakeni
I no Okima me same idate wo
You will get choise chance to shine
A idame na ire
Sabuche
Shi deshte
O moiwa ki totodako
Tonde go will get to wiks
A yi mari wa ima
You can fly to wu bus ka
you can touch no wu bus ka
When unpacking the lyrics to Medeski Martin and Wood's song Start-Stop, it is important to acknowledge that the band takes inspiration from a variety of genres including jazz, funk, and electronic music. The lyrics of the song are in fact a blend of Japanese and English, which reflect the band's openness to different cultures and languages. The Japanese lyrics "Kimina wara u, Kasami ira u, Sunami isa ro, Tukino muko o" roughly translate to "Laughing kimina, Smiling kasami, Roaring sunami, Coming fog." These lines create vivid sensory imagery and set the atmosphere for the rest of the song.
As the song progresses, the lyrics become more abstract with lines like "You will get choise chance to shine", "Tonde go will get to wiks", and "A yi mari wa ima". These lines are open to interpretation but could be interpreted as motivational phrases to encourage the listener to seize opportunities and embrace change. The English lines also include references to flying and touching, which create a sense of freedom and exploration. Overall, the lyrics to Start-Stop are evocative and create a sense of movement and energy, echoing the rhythmic nature of the music itself.
Line by Line Meaning
Kimina wara u
We are beginning.
Kasami ira u
We are stopping.
Sunami isa ro
We are moving forward.
Tukino muko o
We are holding back.
Seka i no ja tedema a te ru
We are dancing our way through life.
Mai agare
Rise up!
Ochimi dayuyakeni
Don't be afraid.
I no Okima me same idate wo
Open your eyes and take a look around you.
Kitotodoko
Where will you go?
You will get choise chance to shine
You have the opportunity to shine.
A idame na ire
Don't let anything hold you back.
Sabuche
Keep moving forward.
Shi deshte
That's the way it is.
O moiwa ki totodako
You decide where to go.
Tonde go will get to wiks
You will succeed.
A yi mari wa ima
It's time to take action.
You can fly to wu bus ka
You can soar to new heights.
you can touch no wu bus ka
You can achieve anything you set your mind to.
Contributed by Lila L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.