Medeski Martin & Wood
Combustication (1998)

review by: Michael Walls
Date: 11/9/00

It's easy to get caught up in a well produced, multi-layered, instrumentational production. A barrage of surround sound is always a crowd pleaser.

But sometimes a simple bassline or that old hammond organ playing the right single notes can turn your head and make you reach for the volume knob. This is the case with Medeski, Martin & Wood's Combustication.

I was turned onto this by a friend who hesitantly described it to me as "Bourbon Street Fusion Jazz." To which after a few months of listening, can agree. I can definitely feel a New Orleans influence here. But I believe it goes beyond this. I'm not a "Jazz" expert. I'm not even a "Jazz" amateur. So I don't know if there is such as thing as "Industrial Jazz." But if there is, this is it.

This is percussion, bass, and keyboard driven music. Sometimes working together. Sometimes working alone. And sometimes working with other things such as vocals, some spoken word, and some sampling and sound effects.

You kinda get a "working class" jazz feel out of it. Not a smokey, blues bar, guitar-based jazz. Or a snooty, sax and piano, contemporary jazz. But a working-in-the-factory, banging-on-the-pipes-and-buckets type of jazz. This isn't backyard BBQ music. This is hanging out with another person or a couple of people, drinking scotch and talking about heavy shit, type of music.

This CD has got some funky, groovy moments to it. It also has some strange and interesting moments as well. But if you're interested in something different and you're a fan of jazz-based instrumentation, then this Bluenote CD would make an excellent addition to your collection.