Customer Reviews

Notes From the Underground

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is real Jazz folks. This is not Duke Ellington, this is not Miles Davis. Those reviewers that gave this album a negative review because it's not "traditional" jazz were completely missing the beauty of this album. No this is not traditional jazz, it only resembles traditional jazz in that it's acoustic and they do a cover of "Caravan". Jazz is not traditional, jazz is about breaking the rules and going beyond traditional boundaries. MMW has this concept hardwired into their brains. They find a way to bring a gut wrenching chaotic beauty out of what only SEEMS like noise. This album indeed contains less of their "experiemental" or "random" noise but it still has it's fair share. The only reason I can see someone not liking this album is if they don't like or don't understand complex harmonies. Creed and Brittainy Spears are popular for a reason - they are EASY to listen to. MMW often is not easy to listen to, but if you want to hear some of the best musicians in the world (Medeski and Wood went to NEC and Martin to Julliard) give you a piece of their hearts and minds listen to this album.

One of THE MOST beautiful songs of all time IMHO is La Garronne, track 3. I also believe MMW's best groove is on this album as well, that's United track 8. I would like to quickly qualify that I could never truly pick a favorite song or album of MMW or most any other band either, but I use these terms to illustrate just how insanely great I think these songs are. This of course is my humble opinion but as a Jazz pianist of many many years I hope that if you are interested in expanding your musical horizons that you will consider my opinion of value and buy this album. Yes, it is strange in some places, but all of MMW's albums have strangeness. If at first you don't dig it, put it away and listen to it again when you get bored of all your other albums. I have yet to get bored of this album.

I consider MMW to be one of the most innovative bands of their time. They push the limits of what is considered to be jazz with each studio effort. Although I own all of their albums I feel that "Notes From the Underground" is my favorite. It has a sort of loose, free-form feel while maintaining the funky core that they have become known for. Although this album takes a couple listens it leaves you feeling that you've experienced a unique journey.

There is not a single Medeski Martin and Wood release that I do not own, other than "Tonic", which I fully intend to purchase as soon as I possibly can. Having heard them through their many different 'modes', so to speak, and having seen them live in '99, I have to say I love this album. Like everyone else will have said, you gotta love the touch Medeski puts on the Hammond B-3 and the Fender Rhodes, but those of who also appreciate the more jazz-esque and less jazz-funk side of them, this is one album you'll need. The reason I opted not to give this album 5 stars is because it seems, at times, poorly balanced, but perhaps that is my own personal opinion. I listen to "La Garonne" about eight times for every time I listen to any of the other tracks once, just because it is so incredibly beautiful to listen to. "Querencia" leaves a little something to be desired, along with "Rebirth"; the sort of spacy, ethereal stuff doesn't always appeal to me (i.e. Farmer's Reserve, which is still quite a good album for those of us who really wish to hone in on Billy Martin's ability).

Unless you're looking for only electrifunk stuff from MMW, like ShackMan and much of Jungle In Here, this is still a cd to grab.

Since MMW don't seem to get any airplay, at least not in Utah, I picked up albums that were recomended by others. For some bizarre reason, none of my friends or aquaintences ever mentioned this fabulous piece of work to me. i have owned it for several months now, and even though it is impossible for me to choose a favorite MMW album, it seems that this is the one that i tend to listen to most. Granted, it doesn't have the fat organ hooks that grab you and refuse to let go, but that doesn't mean it isn't highly addictive. No funk? listen again my friends. Some of those bass lines are far from typical jazz. So there isn't a DJ. It certainly doesn't suffer noticably. This is a very strong showing from three damn fine musicians. bottom line: DON'T BE AFRAID OF JAZZ. It's the good stuff kids.

As with most avant-garde jazz, "Notes from the Underground" is a challenging listen, but high in integrity. Most listeners who fell in love with the rock infused albums like "End of the World Party," "Uninvisible" and "Friday Afternoon in the Universe" will probably not enjoy Medeski Martin and Wood's (MMW) debut. To appreciate "Notes from the Underground," the listener should either be a MMW die-hard or an avid fan of avant-garde musicians like Don Pullen, Eric Dolphy and John Zorn. In addition to the acoustic trio, the group is accompanied by musicians who play the trumpet, tuba, trombone, saxophones and bass clarinet. This will give the potential listener a good idea of the sonic landscape on this 1992 release. Now there's avant-garde and then there's avant-garde. While far out, it is very listenable compared to "Farmer's Reserve." These songs aren't painful to listen to, they're just not very memorable. The compositions have little staying power. Even Duke Ellington's 'Caravan' is barely recognizable. Indeed, with the exception of 'Hermeto's Daydream,' none of these pieces have earned a place on the compilations and this material has mostly been ignored during the band's regular live sets. All of that written, this will be a good listen for those who have found a place in their hearts for MMW's acoustic material. Indeed, the obscurity of "Notes from the Underground" has always been a mystery when compared to the success of "Tonic." While an interesting debut, it would not be until the following year's release of "It's a Jungle in Here" that the band would achieve a dramatic entrance.

but some of the opinions here piss me off greatly. When MMW put out Tonic, they openly addressed their returning for a brief time to acoustic format they started as. I'll say plainly that I think they're brilliant musicians and a great group that lives in their music, I feel the only reason some are sleeping on this, or tossing off backhanded compliments is because it's acoustic. It's brilliant music, and even the Amazon description missed the mark entirely saying this album is largely void of the groove based work they are known for. WHAT?!? For many if you turn up the volume, increase the tempo, make it electric, etc. it makes the work more palatable. The world is full of soul organ junkies, and I think mmw knows this which is why they've largely abandoned this piano sound. Also, having a dj play on groovin' jazz tracks can be simply awesome. That said, Notes from the Underground is solid and has all the hallmarks of the later sound except for the organ and dj sound. It's also independant and not produced in a polished way, but lets the tracks stand out for themselves. I like that, but realize it's a far cry from the sound they would later adopt. For me, it stands alongside their best electric albums and is better than some of them.

I found this first cd of mmw to be a softer more mellow feel. I liked the progressions, and early experimentation with sounds and textures. definitely a must for mmw fans. Anthony hanley

Hey y'all, a southern boy from Bama -- just gotta say that if you have liked what you have heard from these guys so far then you will not be let down. Not a bad disk at all. It will always have a place in my changer. Hope to see y'all at the shows.

notes from the underground is very satisfying if you love versatality in jazz these guys are unbelievable and ive heard stories about them and how they felt it just came together when they met this is no wonder when you hear this album-cd, then what makes them equally as sick is they turn out stuff like snake anthony on the invisible cd snake anthony would have been proud of this one from hermetos daydream, the saint , la garonne,orbits,uncle chubb,all the way through to cant get what you want on the 11th track on the remastered 2nd edition which is worth the extra money that track alone is like the icing on the cake,friday afternoon in the universe,its a jungle in here,out louder with john scofield released late last year tonic was another one just bought it based on the samples im gonna love it these guys are the s--t. i listened and still do to weather report and jaco pastorius thinking that was probably gonna be the extent of my jazz collection boy was i wrong i stumbled upon these guys glad i did oh yeah the dropper ,the song felic starts out with some cool bass guitar riff gonna buy that one too, but i gotta have the time and the space....oh yeah thats when we knew we were the best when snake anthony come on the road with us long live jazz thanks medeski martin wood you are truly off the table!!!

...this was the first mmw disc i purchased and really had a hard time enjoyin it. as far as their foray into traditional jazz, this was very average (outside of about two cuts). if i was gonna buy a standard jazz album, it would be somethin by duke ellington, horace silver, miles, etc.,....
...they really came into their own, however, when they began to expand into the realm of jazz-fusion. if you are a jazz purist, then this is probably the only disc from them you would enjoy, but if your musical tastes are a bit more diverse i would suggest some of their other works.