In 1992’s Notes from the Underground and the very next year’s It’s a Jungle in Here, Medeski Martin and Wood worked assiduously to forge their talents. Yet their individual and collective assets were still in the process of crystallizing into a distinctive personal style: echoes of Monk and Mingus were too obvious to ignore in these early LPs.
But it wasn’t long after the trio bonded and, as the cryptic art prominently emblazoned on its front cover suggested, 1995’s Friday Afternoon in the Universe is the bonafide result of their evolution. The subsequent use of the image (designed by Martin) as the band’s logo indicates how the record’s milestone status became cemented over time. And that colorful example of the visionary trio’s development indicates the vibrant sounds it encloses. Resplendent with infectious grooves as deep as the two previous records’ were marked quirks, MMW’s music could now elicit as much visceral reaction as a cerebral one. To that end, Medeski Martin & Wood conjure a palpable flow throughout this near hour of collectively-composed original music.
Within fifteen tracks as earthy as they are ethereal, melodic fragments (“Tea”) and pieces of beats (“Paper Bass”) appear to foreshadow the unpredictable elements the threesome would subsequently embed into their sound on future records such as 2000’s The Dropper. To that end, Medeski’s funky clavinet and Hammond organ ostensibly dominate the proceedings. But it’s undeniable how Wood’s acoustic instrument elevates the momentum of “Last Chance To Dance Trance (Perhaps).” And even though Martin’s percussion work there is suitably understated, the rhythms he keeps become persistently subliminal throughout the track. As a result, MMW swings with as much vigor as they dig into grooves on “Sequel.”
Meanwhile, the earlier juxtaposition of the dissonance in “Baby Clams” and “We’re So Happy” reemphasizes the trio’s fondness for the atonal. It is nonetheless telling though that, after those abstract interludes, the second-line influenced backbeat Martin introduces on the forward-thinking “Shack.” is just as distinct: the song hints at the Hawaiian edifice at which they would record and co-produce 1996’s Shack-man, once more in collaboration with ever-so-astute engineer David Baker.
Extended perspective on Friday Afternoon in the Universe–plus the timeline covered by the splendid 2024 video documentary Jazz Not Jazz–suggests it was inevitable Medeski Martin and Wood would find favor with the jam band audience even without appearing live with Phish in 1995. Having established a foundation with that demographic, however, the trio refused to play it safe. Grinding out more of the same readily accessible stuff as appears on the pair of albums issued around the mind-nineties was not then and is not now part of their musicianly DNA.
Signing with the vaunted Blue Note Records might also belie the independence intrinsic to MMW. Still, the iconoclastic unit pushed envelopes and stretched boundaries during their seven-year tenure with the iconic jazz label. Then, after establishing their own Indirecto Records operation, the worldly threesome continued their prolific ways through collaborations in the studio and onstage, notably among those with guitarist John Scofield (a connection first documented on 1997’s A Go Go).
Until reuniting for a show last September 2024 at the Brooklyn Comes Alive festival, the three have generally gone their separate ways in recent years on solo and group endeavors outside their shared nexus. With the clarity of perspective provided by three decades, however, Friday Afternoon in the Universe reaffirms Medeski, Martin & Wood’s instincts have stood them in good stead in consistently following their muse(s) in so many different directions for their career.