Medeski, Martin, Metzger, Cline

 

Famed keyboardist John Medeski is not easily contained to a single project or genre; he is credited on over 300 works to date, most notably as one third of the groundbreaking trio, Medeski Martin & Wood. Equally comfortable behind a Steinway grand piano, Hammond organ, or any number of vintage keyboards, Medeski is a highly sought-after improviser and bandleader whose projects range from work with MacArthur Fellow John Zorn, The Word (Robert Randolph, North Mississippi Allstars), Phil Lesh, Don Was, John Scofield, Coheed & Cambria, Susana Baca, Sean Lennon, Marc Ribot, Irma Thomas, Blind Boys of Alabama, and many more. Classically trained, Medeski grew up in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, where as a teenager he played with Jaco Pastorius before heading north to attend the New England Conservatory.

 

Billy Martin was born in NYC in 1963 to a Radio City Rockette and a concert violinist. At age 17, he devoted himself to music and dove into Manhattan’s thriving, eclectic musical landscape. In the years to follow, he honed his craft everywhere from Broadway orchestra pits to Brazilian nightclubs and burgeoning underground performance spaces. From the roots of the downtown scene he emerged with Medeski Martin and Wood, bridging the harmonic complexity of jazz, the conversational fluency of free improvisation, and the groove and swagger of classic R&B and funk. A series of albums and high-profile collaborations with John Scofield, John Zorn, iggy Pop, Natalie Merchant, and others, brought the band international acclaim.

 

Scott Metzger has spent the past two decades earning a reputation as one of the most adventurous musicians currently on the scene. He plays to massive crowds as vocalist and guitarist in Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (JRAD), while also one third of LaMP, a beloved heavy groove unit with Burlington, VT musicians Ray Paczkowski and Russ Lawton. He’s shared stages with the likes of Phil Lesh, John Scofield, Nels Cline, John Medeski and Billy Martin among others and played on studios sessions with Shooter Jennings, Craig Finn, Anders Osborne and Nicole Atkins (to name but a few). His musical interests, however, run broader than those bonafides suggest. His own solo acoustic guitar pursuits led to the acclaimed 2022 album, Too Close To Reason. Prior to that, he fronted WOLF!, a hard-charging, electrified Telecaster rock trio that balanced tight instrumental compositions w/ group improvisation. A dynamic and multi-dimensional musician who refuses to be pigeonholed, it might be best to simply trust Guitar Player Magazine’s assertion that “Metzger is an artist capable of conjuring fire.”

 

Nels Cline is a genre-defying guitarist widely celebrated as a longtime member of seminal rock band Wilco, and for his expansive solo career spanning jazz, rock, and experimental music. As a band leader he’s released three critically acclaimed albums on Blue Note Records, from the lush orchestration of Lovers to the electrified improvisations of Share the Wealth. His latest project Consentrik Quartet showcases his deep roots in the avant-garde improvised-music scene, further cementing his reputation as one of today’s most adventurous and versatile guitarists.