MMW Plays the Clearwater Jazz Holiday

Yes, the secret is out now: Medeski Martin and Wood will play this year's edition of the Clearwater Jazz Holiday.

The show, Oct. 20, was recently announced on the MMW site and on MMW's MySpace site.

MMW, a jazz-rock-funk-experimental trio popular with the jamband crowd, ought to bring new listeners to the longstanding jazz festival, slated for Oct. 18-21 in Coachman Park. The full lineup will be announced Aug. 1, according to a note on the festival's site.

IMO, the trio, with organist/keyboardist John Medeski, drummer Billy Martin and acoustic and electric bassist Chris Wood, is the most creative and musically adventurous of the "jazzy jambands," a subgenre that includes the likes of Charlie Hunter, Soulive and a few others.

MMW is only the third jamband to play the festival, according to my count.

A jam-oriented group led by guitarist John Scofield played the Jazz Holiday in 2001 (Sco recently has been touring with MMW; too bad that hook-up isn't in store for the Clearwater show). Ghetto Love Sugar (my band, now defunct), played the fest in 2003, with special guests Jonathan (tpt) and Jeremy (sax) Powell.

By the way, Jonathan still lives in NYC, and Jeremy is back in St. Petersburg, bringing his high-caliber playing to quite a few bands, including a group, Acme Jazz Garage, that I took to USF Botanical Gardens for a Mother's Day show. Jonathan Priest (drums) recently relocated to North Carolina, but his bands, including locally popular roots-reggae band Rocksteady@8, live on. Raulton Reichel (keyboards) and Joel Lisi (guitar) continue to play in various bands, I hear.

Guess I'll take this opportunity to direct readers of my blog to the recently revised web site for my new band, Trio Vibe. Here it is. It's not quite complete, but you can find basic info on the band, show dates and a sound clip, from a recent session at Springs Theatre in Sulphur Springs (Tampa). We're playing two weekends this summer at Della's in Brandon, and once at Grille 29 in Tampa. Check the site for more details.