Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood - Juice

  Artist - Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood Title -  Juice Formate - 2x 180-Gram Vinyl LP Label - Indirecto Records Mastered by Alan Silverman and Paul Gold UPC - 891817001928     The third studio meeting in nearly 17 years between  Medeski, Martin & Wood, and guitarist John Scofield has no easy referent to their earlier recordings -- purposely. This quartet sounds like a real band on Juice, which is a mixed blessing. The positive aspect is that this longtime collaboration creates near instinctive communication. This is a much more inside date, though the rhythmic interplay between bassist Chris Wood and drummer Billy Martin. is outstanding throughout. There are four covers from the 1960s scattered among the various originals; some work better than others. One is "Sham Time," an Eddie Harris tune. This quartet does it justice with spark, crackle, groove, and grease. The cultural baggage associated with the Doors' "Light My Fire" is too great for even these musicians to transc