Medeski Martin & Wood: Not Not Jazz
Three musicians decamp to the rural Catskill mountains and produce a snappy jazz album
Oscilloscope Laboratories
Directed by Jason Miller
Starring Billy Martin, John Medeski, and Chris Wood
by Carl F. Gauze
This introspective documentary takes the view deep into the secret dungeons, where creativity, execution, and collaboration create a vast new experience. Medeski Martin & Wood have deep roots in the jazz world, their work with other performers ranging from symphonies to punk to rap. That exploration of sound as well as its interpretation informs this low key and rather dimly lit recording session in the Catskill mountains where the group has borrowed an enormous mountain home. The view is spectacular and civilization lies twenty miles down a dirt road. This gives the music a unique flavor, as the acoustics here are determined by log walls, wooden floors, and a collection of furniture that you would rarely find in a recording studio. Think of the decor as junk-store modern.
The session begins and friends drop in, adding tone to the project. Serendipity polishes the details while the big concepts rely on the band’s years of musicality and recording. There’s a certain amount of magic here, along with decades of experience. It may be hard for a layman to understand their artistic decisions, and that’s fine, only a few reach this level of recording and performing skills. You and I are not on that level. I listen to tracks and take notes — it’s a tough language to decode for a non-musician. I come from other musical worlds like punk and polka, but there is enough overlap to dope out the inner motivations of this band. Meanwhile, views of the surrounding terrain and impromptu dinners provoke reminiscences of earlier gigs, and tales of the the eccentrics that populate this universe keep us entertained.
At a minimum, it kept me engrossed. I wonder if anyone brought along any moonshine? ◼
