MEDESKI, SCOFIELD, MARTIN & WOOD

Live: In Case the World Changes Its Mind

[Indirecto]

Medeski, Martin & Wood, who’ve been redefining the jazz keyboard trio for a remarkable two decades now, first collaborated with guitar dynamo John Scofield in 1997 on the latter’s A Go Go album. Even then the match was ideal: Scofield’s probing, groove-infused licks and MMW’s future-funk worship made one another whole. Nearly a decade later, MSMW made its official debut as a standalone (if sporadic) unit when Scofield linked with keyboardist John Medeski, bassist Chris Wood and drummer Billy Martin on their 2006 Out Louder and subsequent tour. In Case the World Changes Its Mind was culled from those live dates, and not unexpectedly—MMW are loved by the jam-band crowd as well as jazzers—there’s a whole lot more voltage in the air when the quartet faces an audience. Case in point is “Miles Behind,” expanded from its skeletal three-minute studio take into a crackling near-nine-minute blowout here. MSMW don’t surface often, but they always make it count. –Jeff Tamarkin