 Radiolarians 1 (Indirecto)
 Zebos: Book of Angels, vol.11 (Tzadik)
No master plan is evident on Radiolarians 1, the first of three albums of new marterial quickly written, toured, and recorded by Medeski, Martin, and Wood. The
typically moderne jazz is thoughtful--an atmospheric jam bending into
John Medeski's shifting organ on "First Light" plenty is half-sketched,
too. The band often grooves to get by, though there is a freedom absent
from the trio's recent efforts, in the breathless upright and
psychedelic farfisa pulse of "Reliquary" to Chris Wood's spaghetti
western bassline (and acoustic guitar?) of "Muchos Gracias." After 17
years, the band still has plenty of ideas. They're just not sure what
they are yet. On the other hand, Zebos: Book of Angels, vol.11 -- a
colletion of John Zorn composition--is all master plan. It is classic
MMW from the first moments of the opening "Zagzagel," one of over 300
Masada charts in the series the maverick iconoclast Zorn began in 2004.
The band is intensely focused sorting through their trickbag:
skittering paino/drum dialogues ("Rifion"), deep listening drifts
("Kalach ha Sopher"), uber-cool organ riffing ("Agmatiel"), and even a
few tunes that are unmistakably (gasp!) jazz. Neither young lions nor
sonic innovators on Zaebos, MMW get it exactly right. Which is
fortunate. Wouldn't wanna piss off Zorn.
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