
Avant-garde jazz trio Medeski Martin & Wood have booked the final round of dates on their "Radiolarians Tour."
Each leg of the three-part North American series has seen the band start with a week in the studio to write and rehearse new material, and then hit the road for two weeks to develop the compositions spontaneously on stage. The tunes are recorded immediately after the trek.
Following a couple of dates in Japan, Medeski Martin & Wood will launch the final leg of the "Radiolarians" series Nov. 12 in Seattle. The outing will hug the West Coast and cross into Canada for a Nov. 13 gig in Vancouver. North American shows are listed below and those overseas can be found at MMW's website.
"Radiolarians 1," the first of three albums to be spawned from the unique outing, surfaced late last month. The record is said to be all over the musical map, touching everything from country funk to piano jazz. A song from the set, "Free Go Lily," is streaming at Medeski Martin & Wood's MySpace page and is available as a free download.
Keyboardist John Medeski, drummer Billy Martin and bassist Chris Wood have been playing together since 1991 and have long been a favorite in the jam-band community. In 2006, the trio launched its own imprint, Indirecto Records, and released "Out Louder," a four-way collaborative effort with guitarist John Scofield.
Last January, MMW veered off in a new direction, releasing its first album of children's music, "Let's Go Everywhere." The disc, which includes kid-friendly titles such as "Pirates Don't Take Baths," "Hickory Dickory Dock" and "Cat Creeps," features vocals from Wood's and Martin's children along with classmates and friends. It shot to No. 2 on Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz chart.
Medeski Martin & Wood are also looking ahead to next year, when they'll join a slew of acts including Les Claypool, Galactic, Michael Franti, Ivan Neville, and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals on Jam Cruise 7, which leaves from Fort Lauderdale, FL, Jan. 4 and visits Belize City, Belize and Costa Maya, Mexico.