MMW Gives Toronto a Halloween Treat

Jazz outfit Medeski, Martin and Wood rolled into Toronto for their only Canadian appearance on October 30. The trio played the Guvernment which is one of Toronto's finest live music venues. With a capacity of 1800 and the venue decorated to suit the holiday, fans were treated to an intimate and equally spooky show. The concert began at six o'clock with MMW to play two sets. Rumours were circulating that Iggy Pop (who was playing next door in the Warehouse) would join the band onstage as MMW provide back up on a track on his most recent release. Iggy did not show but MMW joined him on stage for his set later in the night.

Having never seen MMW live, I was unaware as to what to expect from these eclectic musicians. One thing that was extremely obvious was that these are three of the most talented, spontaneous and intriguing musicians in music today. They define what jazz music has become in this, the last year of the of the century, a combination of traditional jazz (Duke Ellington) layered with modern effects and gung-ho improvisation (Sun Ra).

As the first set progressed as did MMW. Starting with a free form "trippy"jam, the band ripped into a climatic and thunderous groove led by the amazing Billy Martin. Martin takes drumming to the next level using all sorts of percussion instruments from hand held bongos to scraping steel. Martin and Chris Wood provide an exceptional rhythm to the extremely eclectic sounds of keyboardist John Medeski. MMW had the crowd grooving as they ended the first set and it continued well into the second set as the band performed such track as Hey-Hee-Hi-Ho and Brigas Nuncai Mais. As the second set drew to a close the band played the crowd favourite Bubblehouse which along with Chubb Sub were the highlights of the evening. Medeski's range in switching from the B-3 organ to the keyboard to the clavinet is precise and extremely eclectic which along with the talents of Wood and Martin, gives the band the ability to go from hip-hop to jazz to an African-Cuban sound in an instant.

MMW left the crowd wanting more and hopefully with the success of this show, we will be seeing them here shortly.

Burt Neilsen Band:
Nov.19 La Luna, Hamilton
Nov.25 Call the Office, London
Dec.3 The Horseshoe, Toronto (with special guests TBA)

The New Deal:
Nov. 27 Ted's Wrecking Yard, Toronto (sound and light night with special guest DJ)

Groove Collective: Nov.19 The Comfort Zone

Jazz is Dead: Nov.20 The Comfort Zone

Steel Toe Sandal: Nov.26 The Comfort Zone

Caution Jam: Nov.27 The Comfort Zone

Maceo Parker: Nov.28 The Guvernment

The Tragically Hip play The Air Canada Centre New Years Eve and day.