On Tuesday, Feb. 19, one of the biggest names in the jam band and jazz worlds will be coming to campus. Thanks to SPEC Jazz, Medeski, Martin & Wood will be playing Irvine Auditorium in front of nearly 1000 people. Their music spans many genres, bridging the gaps between hip-hop, funk, jazz and avant-garde, creating a unique sound that has made the trio famous and earned them spots on the prestigious jazz record label Blue Note and in the annual Bonnaroo music festival. Now, the group has a new children's album, an eco-friendly outlook on the recording process and plans for at least three new albums in the coming year. Street talked with drummer Billy Martin about the tour, living in a shack in Hawaii and how he's gone hundreds of miles on vegetable oil. Street: Why'd you choose Penn as your first stop on your tour? Billy Martin: Well, we were originally not going to tour at all - just write and rehearse and record some new stuff. But then someone called us and said that they really wanted us to play at UPenn, so we said "OK."
Street: How long is this tour you're starting? BM: We're going to tour for about a week and a half at a time, then go back to the studio and see what works and what doesn't, then record the stuff we like. There will be one tour per season, so we'll have about six weeks of improvising to work with. We'll play gigs in between, of course, but it'll mostly be about being in the studio.
Street: How many albums are you planning on releasing this year? BM: We're thinking three - but maybe more, maybe less.
Street: Do you improvise the same way in the studio as you do in concert? BM: Well, we improvise every night in concert, so the songs we're going to be recording in the studio will be coming from our performances. You know, we all improvise in everything we do, even outside of music. For MMW, improvising is how we make our music. You'll see the songs develop as the tour goes on; we'll have generally the same repertoire.
Street: You have a whole bunch of side projects going on. Can you tell us a little about them? BM: Yeah, I have a lot of stuff going on. I've been working with experimental film lately, sort of short videos. [MMW keyboardist John] Medeski and I just released a duet album; I've done some work with some jazz guys like Ornette Coleman and the Lounge Lizards, as well as Sex Mob. Plus I have my kids - two sons.
Street: And you have an art project going on too, right? BM: Yep, I've done a lot of painting, but lately I've been doing more pastel drawing on large canvas. I really like using found stuff, like used paper instead of a canvas.
Street: We noticed you have this recurring theme of a bird in your work. Is there a story behind that? BM: The story comes from Hawaii. When we were recording Shack Man [MMW's 1996 release], we were going back and forth to Hawaii - living there in a shack for a month or two at a time, recording right in the shack. We used solar panels and batteries to power our equipment, but they only lasted about four hours so we'd have to stop and let the stuff recharge and then start again. We were in the jungle, so there was no electricity, no phones, no plumbing. We cracked open coconuts and drank the juice and left the shells out in front of the shack. One morning I woke up and saw these cardinals out there, eating the meat from the coconuts - they really liked it, I guess. I had been looking for something to draw, and the birds were there, so I drew them. And now people seem to like it, so I keep it.
Street: What do you think about Philly? BM: I love it. I play in Philly about four times a year - there are so many great jazz musicians there. It's one of my favorite cities; the audiences are some of the greatest I've ever played for. They're really into the art itself; they're passionate. It's a really progressive city, too. I played a show with my group Socket in Clark Park two years ago, and the park officials were telling me about how they had already converted their carts to electric power and alternative fuels.
Street: Penn actually started a recycling initiative a few weeks ago, and has a very active campus environmental group. We think they'd be interested to hear how you recycle. BM: Well, I drive a 1991 Dodge Ram with a diesel engine that I converted to run off vegetable oil. I get the oil for free from restaurants who would normally have to pay to get rid of their excess oil. You can't start the engine off vegetable oil, but you can start it on diesel and then switch it over to the vegetable oil. It's great. You can go anywhere on vegetable oil. I've traveled hundreds of miles on it - actually back and forth to Philly a couple of times.
Street: That's really cool. Any last thoughts, or a Valentine's Day message for us? BM: Spread the love, and play with your heart.
