MARC ANDERSON: Time Fish (ESD)
Medeski, Martin and Wood are frequent session players in the Downtown NYC music scene. Most notable is drummer Billy Martin's work with the Lounge Lizards and the John Lurie National Orchestra. MMW's first release took the straight jazz piano trio into new territory with highly inventive use of rhythm in the improvisational structure. It's a Jungle in Here offers a different vision as a picture of their more recent live sound, which continues to explore progressive rhythmic ideas, but draws heavily on the tradition of organ jazz most often associated with Jimmy Smith. Thick organ-based groove music with interesting solos. The occasional presence of a horn section and guitarist Marc Ribot only helps fatten things up.
Marc Anderson is an amazing percussionist from Minneapolis who has been recording with guitarist Steve Tibbets for at least 15 years. Fact of the matter is almost all the Tibbets records have been sustained by collaboration with Anderson. This release covers a lot of different ground while still focusing on Anderson's playing. Never is musicality sacrificed for virtuosity, a tendency which has ruined many releases in this genre. Lots of nice vocalizing (singing without words) as well as blasts of Tibbets' guitar genius and strange uses of samples and cello. One step deeper than the mid-eighties heyday of Windham Hill, Time Fish offers ear candy for the percussion fan. (Bob Boster)