The kinetic jazz sounds of Medeski, Martin and Wood, along with Lost

Tribe delighted a receptive, dance-minded crowd at Flamingo’s Friday

night.

The New York-based jazz trio, consisting of John Medeski on organ/piano,

Billy Martin on drums/percussion, and Chris Woods on bass, is currently on

tour in support of its last Gramavision release, It’s a Jungle in

Here. The trio’s first album, Notes from the Underground,

earned a four-star review in Downbeat magazine and also garnered a

top-10 pick for best release of 1992 in Jazziz magazine.

John Medeski said the band has gone through a lot of changes since It’s

a Jungle In Here was recorded a year ago.

“We went from being more of a piano trio on our first record to what we are

now, which incorporates an organ with electronics with a twist of funkiness

added in for good measure,” Medeski said. “This kind of trio came out of

the desire to play more gigs without using the piano.”

Medeski said the band’s next release, Friday Afternoon in the

Universe, will show exactly how the band has evolved.

“We’re an extension of the piano-trio tradition in our own way, taking in

all the elements of today’s modern pop music along with improvisation and

including the whole history of music,” Medeski said. “How we approach music

makes for a subtler form of communication – it’s not as ‘in-your-face’ as

is the case when you have a lead singer or guitarist. It’s ambiguous and

leads to more interplay and upbeat melodic weights where the drums and bass

are concerned than there would be if there was a guitar player playing the

melody all the time.”

The band’s show focused on songs featured on the trio’s upcoming release

and provided the audience with an opportunity to experience the band’s

organic, fluid groove-gestalt, infestations that blend elements of jazz,

hip-hop, reggae, blues, gospel and funk.

Lost Tribe, made up of Adam Rogers on guitar, Fina Ephron on bass, Ben

Perowsky on drums and David Phinney on saxophone, opened the show with its

own version of “mutation” music, better described as

hardcore-hip-hop-jazz-chromatic-dance music. The band’s set covered tunes

from both Soulfish, the group’s latest release on Windham Hill along

with songs from its self-titled debut.

Ben Perowsky said that Walter Becker of Steely Dan fame orchestrated the

band’s record deal with Windham Hill, a label that wanted to change its

direction by bringing bands on board such as Lost Tribe.

“Walter Becker produced our first record and had been producing records for

Windham Hill back when we got signed,” Perowsky said.

Soulfish was produced by the group, and, according to Adam Rogers,

there are significant distinctions between the first and second

release.

“There are quite a bit of sonic differences in terms of how Soulfish

was recorded,” Rogers said. “In addition, we have evolved over the past

couple of years as composers and players, and we try to make each of the

tunes we do stylistically different.”