Artist: Medeski, Martin, and Wood
Location: Commodore Ballroom
Date: 09.13.2007
Photography: Rebecca Brown

Having an extensive musical background can almost always be a blessing, it is rarely a curse.  As I was signing up for concerts for the month, I submitted without hesitation, a Vancouver, B.C. showing of Medeski, Martin and Wood.  I sent the request to my editor who nearly immediately confirmed my attendance at the upcoming event.  It was then that I first said to myself, wait...who are these guys?

Thinking back to myself, I remember seeing a couple of their discs like The Dropper and Electric Tonic in my father’s vast collection.  That’s where I knew them from!  Looking at the scheduled event, there was another name involved…..Scofield…..I know that somehow I know that name too.  I come to the conclusion that these names at the very least must be musical heavy-hitters, as that is the only type of music that my father really listens to.  A musician’s band.

I talked over the plan for the night with my photographer Rebecca Brown, and asked her if she had any knowledge on the band.  She also did not.  Now, the sheer power of the internet would have it that I have all the information on Medeski, Martin, Wood and Scofield in a matter of minutes.  I might find so much information on them all via the internet, that should I meet them might tell them stories about their lives that they don’t even remember.  Or, in the fashion of the purest gonzo journalism, I could go in blind and hope to be blown away with an exceptional musical performance.  

We arrived to a ¾ packed Commodore Ballroom in downtown Vancouver.  With about 20 minutes to spare, there was no opener that night, they came straight out on stage and the place went nuts.  It was then that I realized, I was probably witnessing musical legends…..

They totally are.  These men have fringe Jazz down to a science.  If it wasn’t for the occasional cheer from the crowd recognizing the beginning of a song, I would’ve come out swearing that they had just finished a three hour jam.  They seemed to play flawlessly knowing when to let each player have their moment in song, and when to take the moment for themselves.

In that moment, the member of the band is invincible.  Scofield’s smile was a mile wide while watching any of the other 3 doing their thing.  You could tell that even though he might be the most recognizable name in that whole building that night, he was completely honored to be on stage with these amazing musicians.  He would play his guitar and simply beam while any of the other three would take a solo.  

Martin and Wood, in my personal opinion, might be the best example of good communication between drums and bass that I have ever witnessed.  They should write the playbook for upcoming musicians, they are completely without error in an entire set.  They never go out to the fringe unless it’s in a solo and even then it is rare.  They are there to provide the rocks and stones for Medeski and Scofield to lean on through a percussive element that is so key to the overall sound that they are important in nearly every moment of their songs.  

What I learned most about that night, aside from the raging fact that I was a Medeski, Martin and Wood fan from that moment forward, was that you can play on the outside of a song and though it might not always sound good to the ear, you feel it.  Scofield and Medeski take so many opportunities to explore their entire instrument on stage, which sometimes can sound off, but the performance outweighs the effect on the ear.  These are people in their stride, doing what they were meant to do, and they completely shine while they are doing it.  

They played for nearly an hour and a half, promised us a short break, which turned into a long one, and then came back to play for a crowd who were anxiously awaiting the other half of the show.  They continued to play off each other at a furious pace, with Scofield, Martin and Wood grinning away, and Medeski off stage left never looking satisfied for a moment.  The keyboardist of the band often stands still with his arms crossed when not involved in a song studying his instrument like a general planning for the attack.

It was great to see a full blown Jazz performance like this.  It was great to see the place full, and the crowd excited, I’m always amazed at how accepting Vancouver is to all forms of music.  Though to not research a band prior to seeing them is not my usual routine, it certainly worked this time.  I came out of that concert a new fan of old Jazz, and happily picked up a copy of their albums The Dropper and Uninvisible the very next day.  

Learn from me dear reader, do your research on Medeski, Martin and Wood now, don’t wait like I did.