Director Jason Miller and producers Tyler Davidson, Jim Stark and Elie Weiss do not succumb to over-ambition with Not Not Jazz, their documentary devoted to Medeski Martin & Wood.
The temptation would be to try and ‘explain’ the chemistry of the “avant-groove” band, but that would be an exercise in futility if there ever was one. And why try to eradicate the mystery of it all anyway?
Instead, the creative team seeks to depict how the uncanny bond between the three musicians has affected all those with whom they came in contact with it, including themselves. Each of these men—keyboardist John Medeski, drummer/percussionist Billy Martin, and bassist Chris Wood—had crossed paths throughout the ’80s and in 1991 they officially convened for an engagement, soon after which they began rehearsing together in earnest.
As Miller and company see (and hear) it, Medeski’s expansion of his nimble work on piano to include multiple other instruments is a metaphor for MMW’s evolution as a group. Yet even in finding favor with the jamband community (after early gigs in punk rock clubs), signing with Blue Note Records in 1998 and gaining additional status via their collaboration(s) with guitarist John Scofield, Medeski Martin & Wood continued to not only test their own limits, but also those of their business partners and their audience(s).
Little wonder then that the film focuses on the gestation and completion of their first collaboration in a number of years, back in 2017. Their candor in speaking of the project equals their courage in embarking upon it. Yet numerous and extended passages of the band playing, from various eras of their history, takes precedence over their conversation(s).
And rightly so, for the language they speak instrumentally is far more eloquent than their casual verbal exchanges. Still, purely instinctive communication is the foundation upon which MMW have built their career, so it is hardly an accident that, much like that very historical progression, Not Not Jazz flows as if by a self-generated momentum all its own.
Still, as in live performance, the logic of Medeski, Martin & Wood’s shared trains of thought may only emerge at the conclusion of a given set or concert. These filmmakers, however, pick up on that unique language and give it a forum; accordingly, editor Lance Edmands uses extended passages rather than quick cuts and jumps, all the better to translate their vocabulary, not to mention their intentions in working at remote locations.
Equipment issues at the original upstate New York locale led to relocation in Mexico (plans for which were interrupted by an earthquake). Nevertheless, as the musicians recall their exodus to Hawaii to make Shackman (Rykodisc, 1996), their fond reminiscences become illustrative of their persistence and perseverance, not to mention the celebration of their union (notably including long-time mentor/manager Liz Penta within their inner circle).
Medeski Martin and Wood’s general discussion of executing their concepts for recording might well apply to this film. And Jason Miller’s ingenious filmmaking correlates to their creative notions, so it is a tribute to both parties that neither’s vantage point intrudes upon the others: the dual perspectives become complementary, so that the verbiage highlights the playing and vice-versa.
And it is all with an understated confidence. The good-natured humor that also permeates the interactions between Medeski Martin and Wood might seem contrived for the cameras if it was not so unselfconscious. Early photos and film reveal how each man’s appearance has changed over the course of time, but Not Not Jazz captures and preserves the essentially idiosyncratic personae, physical and otherwise, of Medeski Martin & Wood.
Without extraneous embroidery, director of photography Htat Htut is able to capture the threesome’s loyalty to their collective muse and themselves. Not just philosophical but pragmatic, it is a mindset that includes the utmost devotion to craft and a comparable respect for the tools thereof: Wood’s explanation of how he discovered a particular bass is as delightful as Medeski’s ‘tour’ of his battery of instruments is affectionate. Meanwhile, Martin’s fanciful definition of his approach to percussion might well encapsulate the fundamentally iconoclast modus operandi of the band in which he is a member.
For Medeski Martin & Wood, experimentation is their stock in trade, a freewheeling ethic of expression grounded in the most practical means they can find in their chosen environs. So, an interval such as the one in which they are pictured playing in a verdant al fresco setting might come across as clumsily staged for the cameras; on the contrary, it turns into an exhibition of their connection to each other and the world at large around them, sans any constrictions imposed by a given room.
While MMW’s means of adapting to their surroundings, both on stage and off, becomes almost a subliminal theme to this narrative, director Miller doesn’t allow the storyline to wander any more than his subjects’ improvisations in the spontaneity of the moment. The interweaving of black and white with color footage does not necessarily represent a subliminal message about the topic(s) at hand, but nonetheless symbolizes the ebb and flow of the creative impulses at work, not only within the ensemble that is Medeski Martin & Wood, but also within Not Not Jazz.
MMW fans and curious music lovers may nevertheless question some lack of practical detail in the storyline. For instance, where exactly do the recording sessions take place?: only end credits note Allaire Studio in Woodstock, NY. And what specifically were the issues that arose between the group and the aforementioned iconic jazz label?: they are referenced only in passing. Most importantly, what was/is the album they were working on?: the discography on MMW website does not list an album released subsequent to these sessions.
But those are relatively mundane, superficial issues in the overall context of this striking piece of cinema. Although there is a general timeline to the film, its beginning, middle and end are merely implied, so it is ultimately no more conventional than a Medeski Martin & Wood composition interpreted from the stage or in a studio. As such, Not Not Jazz is an ever-so-accurate reflection of its intrinsically independent subject(s).
“Avante-groove” acid jazz trio Medeski Martin & Wood is the subject of a documentary, Not Not Jazz, now available to stream via AppleTV+ and purchase in physical formats. Following screenings at the Woodstock Film Festival and Big Ears Festival, the 2019 film by director Jason Miller, the film is now available to the public for the first time.
Not Not Jazz takes viewers into the famed Allaire Studio in Woodstock, NY where Medeski Martin & Wood reconvened to record a new album 25 years after their 1991 formation. As is the case with the band’s revered (and now rare) live performances, improvisation lies at the heart of the recording sessions. Throughout the 77-minute film, keyboardist John Medeski, bassist Chris Wood, and drummer/percussionist Billy Martin display the inherent musical ingenuity that made the band a pillar of the emerging jam scene in the 1990s and a staple of festivals and nationwide tours for the next two decades.
“I knew it, as soon as we played,” Martin says in the trailer. “It’s like, ‘This is it, we gotta hold onto this and not let anybody dictate how we’re going to make music.’”
Medeski Martin & Wood were a product of the New York City downtown scene, an environment that birthed avante experimentations like the Benevento/Russo Duo and countless others. After crossing paths throughout the ’80s by way of luminaries John Lurie, John Zorn, and mentor Bob Moses, the group officially formed in 1991 for an engagement at NYC’s Village Gate. In 1992, the band self-released Notes from the Underground and in the quarter century since has issued over a dozen of its own albums and collaborated with DJ Logic, John Scofield, Nels Cline (Wilco), chamber ensemble Alarm Will Sound, and more.
“I am deeply grateful to have met John, Billy, and Chris and to have been entrusted with documenting their process as musicians and exploring their personal lives,” director Jason Miller said. “It’s been a long and arduous journey to get the film made and released, and I learned a lot from them along the way. It’s my hope that everyone who watches the film will take something away as well.”
