Customer Reviews

Out Louder

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Save the Chinese Puzzle Box packaging, this disk is just what you've probably been hoping for from this quartet since the long-ago release of A-Go-Go. From the opening track that makes you think of the Meters on HGH, to the two inspired covers that occupy the end of the disk, it does not disappoint. But what does that mean?

Well... for those familiar with (or, more precisely, in love with) such recordnings as Hand Jive, Bump, Shackman, and Friday Afternoon in the Universe, this disk is an expected and welcome new addition to the combined ouevre of these artists. To the unindoctrinated, it WILL have the same gateway drug effect on them that the afforementioned disks have had on so many of us. It's a fan-maker and a fan-pleaser.

If you're a fan, you're buying this. If you're curious, fans should urge you to buy it. Out Louder is part evolution of the out-jazz sounds these artists have cultivated in recent years, married to a big dose of the head-bobbing funk we've loved about them all along.

It is very very good.

I'm really enjoying this album. Due to the personnel involved and some of the reviews I'd read, I was thinking it would be very similar to John Scofield's "A Go Go" but to me, it sounds and feels a lot more like "Uberjam" and "Up All Night", the two albums by the John Scofield Band (both of which I highly recommend).

I do have some issues though. Many of the songs, at just over three or four minutes, are so short they start to fade out just as I'm getting into them. I'm guessing the guys are whetting appetites for when they (will surely?) take their show on the road where they'll probably play extended versions of the songs. Some of the songs ("Miles Behind", "What Now", "Down the Tube") I just don't get. They just sound like noise to me, or like a jam session if I am to be more diplomatic. Maybe I'll get them after repeated listening.

Overall though, this is a good set of songs. Personal favourites include the opener, "Little Walter Rides Again", "Hanuman" and "Telegraph"; the sublime "Juila", a Lennon and McCartney song, is for me, worth the price of the CD all on its own; and it's great to hear a jazz version of the Peter Tosh tune, "Legalise It", which was made hugely popular back in the reggaefied 70s both by Tosh himself and the great Johnny Clarke.

Best of all? The CD digipak is made from 100% recycled material, so it's environmentally friendly too!

At times, it sounds like a great guitar-based Miles Davis jam, circa Jack Johnson, but more often it sounds like Booker T. and the MGs on steroids, which is a very good thing. I've got it on heavy rotation, and it yields more with each listening. The opening track ran through my head for about 24 hours earlier this week.

"Out Louder" is a return to epic groove. This is music to write home about. I have to be up-front here and confess my personal bias: I believe that "A Go Go" and the following tour was one of the all-time greatest jazz excursions. This is a worthy follow-up by the all-star group. It must have taken John Scofield a certain amount of humility to make this recording. While he's always been an accomplished guitar visionary in his own right, "A Go Go" has always been Scofield's climax. The simple fact of the matter is that "A Go Go" would never have been possible without his "back-up band" of John Medeski, Billy Martin and Chris Wood. This is clear given all of Scofield's solo attempts to replicate the results with lukewarm efforts. "Bump" and "Uberjam" are two examples. Considering this dynamic, it's only appropriate that the reunion isn't John Scofield with guests but "Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood." Regardless of who gets the main billing, the formula is the same. This is funky, rock infused jazz at its finest. Unlike on the initial release, this recording features a balance of originals and covers. 'Legalize It' may be the most unexpected rendition. Following some bombastic jams, the Beatles' 'Julia' helps the listener to catch a short breath. MMW's contribution has much of the spacey vibe as felt on their most recent outing, "End of the World Party (Just in Case)." Indeed, when compared to the original release, "Out Louder" has more of an emphasis on the psychedelic and less of a focus on the funk. "A Go Go" is tighter and has catchier melodies while this is looser and more open. Furthermore, this 2006 CD is more eclectic. For example, John Medeski plays a melodica on 'In Case the World Changes its Mind;' a reggae tune is covered and 'Tequila and Chocolate' is infused with Brazilian Tropicália. Rather than being duplicates, the similarities and differences help "Out Louder" and "A Go Go" to compliment each other. Let's all rejoice the reunion and appreciate this for what it is: one of the most underrated super groups. When these four musicians work together, music is crafted that is greater than the sum total of its parts. If you adored "A Go Go," the eight year wait was worth it for "Out Louder."

To put it bluntly and briefly, MSMW are four of the best musicians alive today, both in the studio and on stage. This second album of the quartet will not disappoint, between full-on grooving jams and the wildly creative musical explorations in which MSMW thrive. With Scofield augmenting the already full and complete sound of Medeski, Martin and Wood, Out Louder is a natural companion and addition to A Go Go, the group's first (and also wildly successful and wonderful) effort.

A welcome and long overdue return to a simplicitly in sound and approach that has, tragically, long been absent from MMW releases.

And Scofield is nothing short of brilliant... a master of texture and nuance that puts others to shame.

In short... raw, organic, swingin', and funkin'

This is the belated follow-up the 1998 MMW collaboration with John Scofield, A Go-Go, and the music here is of a more collaborative nature rather than featured soloist and backing band. With a few exceptions, the music mines the same funky fusion territory with a few covers and on the two best cuts, the looming influence of John Scofield's one time boss, Miles Davis. I found that the music varied in quality, but preferred the uptempoed music, which focused the band and gave direction to their obvious talent. "Little Walter Rides Again" has a funky feel with some hip drumming and swirling organ... but if it's about Little Walter Jacobs, the bluesman, why no harmonica? "Miles Beyond" name checks Davis directly with a very cool track channeling the "dark funk" of his '73-'75 pre-retirement years. This is the best track on the disc - focused, potent and full of energy. "In Case the World Changes It's Mind" drops down into a more pedestrian funk groove. The problem with some of the more lumbering funk tunes is that they become faceless with nothing to distinguish them from other jams. "Tequila and Chocolate" takes something of a "Touch of Evil" (great Wells film) bordertown vibe. The music gets kind of swanky like Sex Mob's Sexotica experiment with Esquivel like lounge music. Scofield gets a nice solo that has a bit of a sharp Grant Green tinge to it.

"Tootie Ma Is A Big Fine Thing" is a straight-ahead organ groover, a little goofy as can be expected with that title! "Chachaca" is another Latin sounding tune, with some nice "jazzy" soloing from Scofield, and some spacey organ fills behind. "Hanuman" has lonely bass clarinet or bari saxophone opening, giving way to a nice guitar and organ interlude. Scofield cuts loose here with some impressive soloing and the deep horn is integrated well into the song. "Telegraph" takes the group off the rails a bit using a creepy organ intro with some sound effects, and sounding more like an experiment then a fully formed song. "What Now," one of the disc gems, picks up the pace considerably by cutting a tough groove. Again the influence of 1970's Miles Davis is apparent, with this cut getting an On the Corner feel with the filthy sounding organ and guitar trying to slice through any opening available. I'd love to hear with foursome hook up with a nasty trumpet player and cut a "Yo-Miles" like tribute album, then they would really shine. The John Lennon song "Julia" is quite a juxtaposition coming off the wah fueled blast furnace funk, and comes off as a little too "radio-friendly" and respectful to make an impact. The elastic funk feel of "Down the Tube" should appeal to the jam band set. It's a fun jam, but lacks the cohesion of the developed set pieces. They wrap things up with a mildly funky cover of Peter Tosh's reggae song "Legalize It" and a bonus track of "In the Tracks" that has some bluesy harmonica (where was he on the Little Walter tune?) over guitar and drums. Scofield plays with a nice bluesy tone on this song. Overall, the disc has some impressive highpoints and the musicianship is first rate. While the quality of the material doesn't always measure up, fans of either MMW or Scofield will probably enjoy this collaboration.

I needed to fully digest this record before writing a review, so yesterday I put it on the stereo and listened to it for a few hours, back to back to back. What I came away with was a great collection of songs, albeit one masquerading as an album. But hey, with the sole exception of 1998's Combustication, that's what Medeski Martin and Wood almost exclusively produce these days.

Not that that's a bad thing, mind you. There are some superbly realized jams to be found here, not to mention r&b and straight blues that will require repeated listenings. And if that weren't enough, there is an ethereal and fragile rendition of the Beatles' Julia. Anyway, mix it all together and Bob's your uncle.

Or at least that's the theory.

There is, however, something about this recording that screams out to be highlighted. There is a measure of restraint that makes this album superior to anything Medeski, Martin, and Wood have done in the last nine years. Perhaps it is the presence of Scofield, but gone are the overblown performances of Uninvisible and The Dropper. What we are left with are scaled down recordings where interplay arrives subtly as opposed to occurring within an ever-increasing contest of volume and flourish.

While this recording doesn't exceed the brilliance of Combustication (a pinnacle that may never be repeated), it is the next best thing, and one suspects the inclusion of Scofield in the group's name is a tip-off to that fact.

The thing one will notice right off about this album is that this music does not sound like a trio + 1, but a self-sufficient quartet that has been playing together for years. And unlike MMW and Scofield's previous meeting on "A Go Go" this CD is not attributed to one artist with guests, but to Medeski, Scofield, Martin and Wood AS a quartet. And this is fitting because these guys should play together more often. This music makes all four shine.

First off, the compositions on this disc are great, especially if you are used to the fairly structureless jams that MMW has been doing as of late. The songs on this disc, unlike those on "Dropper" and "Uninvisible" have strong melodies and seem to musically go somewhere - at least, somewhere recognizable. Contrary to what some may have thought, direction and structure do not hamper MMW, but (at least, to me) makes them stronger.

Scofield's very noodly sounding guitar fits in perfectly with MMW's rough-around-the-edges sound and production (this album certainly has more bite than "A Go Go" in part because it is on MMW's own label).

A variety of styles and sounds are explored here. We have the Meters-esque "Little Walter," the bluesy "Untill the World Changes It's Mind," the latin tinged "Tequlla and Chocolate," and the unexpected ballad "Julia" (have you ever heard Billy Martin on brushes??). These songs really do not get old (as both MMW and Scofield can do from time to time). All the songs (save for two; attribute that to personal taste) are very listenable; just tame enough to be accessible, just edgy enough to be interesting.

This is a CD that I will be playing for some time to come. I really hope these four musiciains release more material together as I believe this to be a combo that brings out the best in eachother.

. . . I'm surprised I like this as much as I do.

Magic just seems to happen when Sco gets together with MMW. For me, this is disc is every bit as good as A Go Go, with the exception of the excessive "Down the Tube," a jammin' tune that goes nowhere. The rest of the disc is tight, tight, tight.

Things start out righteously with "Little Walter Rides Again," funk-jazz to die for. "Miles Behind," with its deconstructed electric-Miles Davis-era vibe keeps the ball rolling nicely, replete with killer wah-wah guitar and nasty organ. "In Case the World Changes Its Mind," is the pure funk-blues, while "Tequila and Chocolate" evokes a delightful world-jazzy Flamenco-funk sensibility. "Tootie Mama Is a Big Fine Thing" trots out the down-and-dirty jazz-blues with delightfully wicked insouciance, followed by a bit of jazz exotica, "Cachaca." "Hanuman," with its faux bass clarinet and Turkish blues sensibility, scores big and leads into a very attractive modernistic electronica-tinged blues-jazz, "Telegraph." The roadhouse-bloozy number "What Now" sears itself into the listener's brain via huge doses of mind-numbing fuzz-organ and wah-wah/splatter guitar. A brilliant reading of the Beatles' "Julia," full of pathos and quiet drama, marks the high point of the disc, rather unfortunately followed by the throwaway "Down the Tube," included, one supposes, to appease the MMW jam-band legions: you can almost sense the malign spirit of Jerry Garcia hovering over these warmed-over Dead proceedings. The final selection, "Legalize It," does little to redeem the missteps of the previous cut, at least from the standpoint of stupid drug musings; but it has such a killer groove and laid-back vibe that one finds oneself liking it despite its silly politics.

I find myself strangely taken by this disc--not something I would normally gravitate toward. I think what's happening here is that MMW and Sco each bring out the best in the other, making the proceedings transcend what each can produce on their own.

A wonderful disc, and easily recommended.