Concertwire.com

A group that effortlessly straddles the gap between avant-garde improvisation and accessible groove-based jazz, Medeski, Martin, & Wood have simultaneously earned standings as relentlessly innovative musicians and an enormously popular act. Friday Afternoon in the Universe, widely considered the band's breakthrough record, pushed toward groove-oriented accessibility, a movement which peaked with the group's 1996 Rykodisc debut, Shack-man. By 1996, through a combination of endless touring and two widely circulated live collaborations with Phish, the group got caught in the burgeoning jam band scene. In 2000, the band made their coming-out as leaders with two releases -- the live acoustic Tonic, as well as the electric The Dropper. The band's reputation has achieved massive proportions. As they always have, the three core band members contributed to numerous other recording projects, both as sidemen and leaders. Increasingly, their word was gold and their efforts carved paths for musicians to follow.