In The Mailbox

I noticed some interest on the AllAboutJazz forum about the forthcoming new release by Medeski, Martin, and Wood, titled Free Magic, so I’m posting a brief synopsis of the album as provided by Indirecto Music, who is releasing the album, as well as an embedded track, so that you don’t have to rely on song samples.  The album’s release date is set at Sept. 25th, 2012.

Here’s some info from Calabro Music Media (MMW’s PR people)…

Medeski Martin & Wood have announced the release of Free Magic due September 25 on the band’s label Indirecto Records. For its latest effort, MMW dip into their archives to present a collection of recordings documenting their first-ever acoustic tour in 2007. The set, stretching out over five expansive tracks, captures the three intrepid improvisers – keyboardist John Medeski, bassist Chris Wood and drummer Billy Martin – exploring the telepathic hookup and deep groove sensibility that has defined MMW since its inception in 1991.

“This stuff brings it back to when we used to hang out in this rented shack in Hawaii and make music together,” says Martin of the music on Free Magic. “It was really just a little plywood cabin in the jungle with a tin roof. John had a prepared piano there that sounded like a gamelan instrument and I had these funky drums that had mold growing on them, or I might play the side of the shack or play the railing going up the stairs and make it sound like a xylophone. And we’d get into a lot of different stuff there, just having musical conversations in this intimate setting.”

Personally, I’ve never been huge into the music of MMW, though I did go through a stretch in the mid-late 90s when I was listening to a bunch of their stuff.  However, I wouldn’t hesitate to go see them live, and this new album was recorded from a concert tour, so that changes things as far as my recommendation goes.  Also, as part of the new album release, they’re doing an Northeast US tour in October.  From what I’ve heard, they’re a hell of a live show.

Here’s a LINK to the MMW site.

And here’s where you can pre-order it on Amazon: CD | MP3

Just got this in the mail yesterday afternoon, and it made an evening in the car running errands much much more enjoyable.

Brian Patneaude – All Around Us

I’ll be reviewing this album in more detail either on eMusic or AAJ, as well as on Bird is the Worm, but wanted to give a heads-up that this album will be hitting the shelves soon.  It’s got Patneaude manning tenor sax, David Caldwell-Manor on piano and Fender Rhodes (which he uses on an especially nifty cover of Wayne Shorter’s “Juju”), Mike Delprete on bass, and Danny Welchel on drums and percussion.

I also own Patneaude’s two previous albums, Riverview and As We Know It, and this new one definitely stacks up well against the two previous.  It’s a bit more straight forward in sound; doesn’t seem to have those eerie undertones of earlier albums, but All Around Us stands out as being more confident sounding and soulful.  About fifteen seconds after Patneaude’s appearance on the album, I was thinking, oh yeah, this is definitely a Patneaude album; his signature (or voice) is becoming more entrenched and unique.  It’s a pretty cool thing to hear a musician develop their voice over the course of a handful of albums; it’s like experiencing a small part of their own personal search & exploration of the source of their creativity.

Anyways, consider yourselves notified of this cool new release.

Here’s a link to Brian’s website.

Official CD release performance:
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Massry Center for the Arts
1002 Madison Ave, Albany, NY 12203
http://www.strose.edu

Here’s a promo video Brian has up on youtube…