Medeski Martin & Wood - Notes From The Underground (1992) 320 kbps

Tracklist

01 - Hermeto's Daydream (7:13)
02 - The Saint (6:58)
03 - La Garonne (5:53)
04 - Orbits (4:27)
05 - Uncle Chubb (7:06)
06 - Rebirth (6:29)
07 - Otis (4:45)
08 - United (8:31)
09 - Caravan (8:20)
10 - Querencia (12:52)
11 - Can't Get What You Want (Bonus Track) (6:34)

Before they went electric and funky, John Medeski, Billy Martin, and Chris Wood were acoustic and funky -- and a lot of other things -- on this exciting early CD. They ruminate like a conventional jazz piano trio when the whim hits them, or move outside when Medeski explodes into Don Pullen-esque clusters. Their métier, though, was clearly the neo-funk thing, for when Martin pulls off those crackling hip-hop and M-Base-related beats on tracks like "Uncle Chubbs" and "Orbits," the band really achieves liftoff. "Caravan" gets a rolling New Orleans funk treatment, and the finale, "Querencia," is a lengthy excursion into dense avant-garde underbrush with a touch of the street in the beat. On several tracks, a three-brass, two-reeds horn section add an extra level of excitement, and the trio tracks are recorded live to DAT (hence the exceptionally crisp sound).