Jazz Articles about John Medeski

like 496

Will Bernard: Blue Plate Special

by Troy Collins
October 6, 2008

Blue Plate Special is San Francisco Bay Area guitarist Will Bernard's fifth release as a leader and his second for Palmetto Records, following the star-studded groove-fest, Party Hats (2007). Dispensing with the additional horns and guest instrumentalists of previous releases, this session features Bernard as the leader of a stripped-down quartet. The relatively spare setting allows greater focus on his highly rhythmic approach to the guitar, with an emphasis on the empathetic interplay with his principle sideman, keyboardist John Medeski. ...

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John Medeski / Mathew Shipp: Scotty Hard's Radical Reconstructive Surgery

by Ian Patterson
October 18, 2006

One of the strengths of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey was the employment of silence. Yet if any piece of music could successfully accompany the image of Frank being “severed" from the space-pod by HAL, then the spacey, sinister intro of Scotty Hard's Radical Reconstructive Surgery could be it.

This is an album full of halucinatory noises and unearthly voices, swirling Moog and Wurlitzer atmospherics, and stabbing piano, all carried along on a deep funk beat. “Operation Chance sounds ...

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John Medeski / Matthew Shipp: Scotty Hard's Radical Reconstructive Surgery

by Troy Collins
October 4, 2006

Celebrated hip-hop producer Scotty Hard realizes a longstanding ambition on Radical Reconstructive Surgery: the pairing of keyboardists John Medeski and Matthew Shipp. This album documents the first-ever recorded encounter of the two players, both former students of the New England Conservatory of Music. Half the pieces consist of written collaborations between Medeski, Shipp and Hard; the remainder of the tunes were written by Hard.

Medeski and Shipp are joined by stalwart bassist William Parker and rising drummer Nasheet ...

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John Medeski: Note Bleu and Piano Jazz

by AAJ Staff
June 9, 2006

By Paul Christopher Dowd

Medeski Martin and Wood Note Bleu: The Best of the Blue Note Years 1998-2005 Blue Note 2006 Marian McPartland Piano Jazz with John Medeski Jazz Alliance-Concord 2006

For Medeski, Martin & Wood it has always been about the groove. And in the decade since their crossover appeal ...

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A Fireside Chat With John Medeski

by AAJ Staff
July 30, 2004

Medeski, Martin and Wood presents the possibilities of jazz to a generation familiar with the iPod, text messaging, and dubs. While traditionalists minimalize their musical merit, it remains difficult to ignore the trio's profound connection with contemporary culture. It is all the more consequential when considering MMW gained their recognition primarily through grassroots avenues, without the benefit of corporate publicity machines their counterparts were afforded. And as much as jazz music's old guard disregards MMW's jazz worth, John Medeski (unedited ...

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A Fireside Chat with John Medeski

by AAJ Staff
February 21, 2004

As a member of Medeski, Martin, and Wood, John Medeski sees the future of jazz on a nightly basis. The audiences at MMW's shows average at about 21 years of age and they dance to the groove that is being produced on stage. That makes Medeski an authority on the future of the music. Afterall, he is on the frontline. So here is the man of the hour, unedited and in his own words.

All About Jazz: Let's ...

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John Scofield: A Go Go

by Christopher Hoard
June 1, 1998

For those of us who found ourselves swept away by the funk and soulful precision of early seventies releases like the Crusaders' Chain Reaction, John Scofield's latest offering will find a grateful audience too long spoon fed and spiritually starved on lush over-productions. A Go-Go gets down to business with no-nonsense production values and grooves. Scofield's strings sing through melodies laden with R&B hooks and southern fried blues, wailing, jibing, taunting, and preaching to us the gospel of urban funk. ...