Medeski, Martin & Wood + Nels Cline – The Woodstock Sessions (Vol. 2)

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mmwThe second installment of a live performance/recording series, Medeski, Martin & Wood + Nels Cline’s Woodstock Sessions Vol. 2 consists of edits from a roughly two-hour performance in front of a small audience conducted in late August of last year. Just as collaborating with guitarist John Scofield elicits largely funky goings on from the forward-thinking trio, their latest work with the visionary Cline finds them trolling purposely through both inner and outer space.

An ever-so-brief ambient intro called “Doors of Deception” leads into “Bonjour Beze” commencing in a series of crescendos as the musicians proceed to invoke their collective muse. At the point Billy Martin puts down the esoteric percussion instruments to sit at his kit, the depth and presence of this recording becomes readily apparent, all the more so as bassist Chris Wood enters the fray to swoop around John Medeski’s alternately sweet and scathing keyboards.
Music as largely cerebral as this doesn’t usually lend itself to high volume, but Cline’s deft navigation within the MMW axis compels turning it up (and/or using headphones) because the sound the four conjure up as on “Les Blank” not only encompasses them, it grows to envelope the listener as well. As crazy as the keyboardist can get when fully immersed in his playing (and he goes certifiably wild here), Medeski meets his match in Cline who redefines shredding each time he moves his hands on his instrument as on “Les Blank.”

It’s a tribute to the Applehead Studios recording and production team of Michael Birnbaum, Chris Bittner and Kevin Salem, that they seamlessly constructed a unified piece here from playing nearly twice its duration. “Jade” epitomizes the sonic logic of The Woodstock Sessions Vol. 2; emblematic of a fine-tuned performance unity, the end result of the trio’s post-production efforts is an accurate representation of the expert dynamics of an excellent set of unified musicianship. The rockin’ “Conebranch,” abbreviated as it is, appears in just the right place to provide stark relief with its surrounding atmospherics.

The Woodstock Sessions Vol. 2 isn’t for those who want to dance (except perhaps internally) and if on “Arm & Leg,” Medeski, Martin & Wood + Nels Cline appear to wobble out of balance toward the end, it’s quite likely that track and “Cinder” represent the courageous moments they simply let go of the musical thread they’ve woven, ever so sure that they’ll be able to catch on to it again. The soft chording of guitar and bass interweaves with keyboard and percussion flourishes to offer a safe landing from a high-flying excursion, the likes of which it’s all too tempting to immediately embark upon again, even as jagged shards of sound waft through the air.

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