Don't see what the fuss is all about
Trying to stretch my musical tastes, and liking jazz on the whole, I tried this group and this CD, as Amazon selected this an essential recording....
I wouldn't have labelled it so. Going to resell this soon. No matter how many listens, I am unimpressed.
I like music, meaning chord structures that permit melody, sensible counterpoint, and harmonies however abstract...but this effort is generally lacking. To me its a little like Pat Metheny's "The Way Up" (which I own and listen to very occasionally)...someone might appreciate it for what it tries to do (stretch the concepts of music and jazz) and for the occasional tunefulness, but its not a "must listen".
I wonder if Martin, Medeski or Wood have any Frank Zappa albums. If not, they could learn a little about jazz creativity from "Jazz From Hell", also an album that I don't and won't own.
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MMW at their best
This is truly one of the better MMW albums. This album has songs which are upbeat (like Sugarcraft and Latin Shuffle), but in general are more laid back than other MMW albums. The slower tempo allows us to see another side of this trio which is great.
I have to admit that it took a while for this album to stick to me when I first bought it. At the time, I was primarily into MMW for the faster grooves that they have on other albums (Shackman and Last Chance to....). I listened to it a few times and put it on the shelf for a while until I gave it another try. Since then, this CD has been on heavy rotation in my stereo.
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