On Tuesday night, the all-star team of Medeski Martin & Wood‘s keyboard wizard John Medeski and bass virtuoso Chris Wood, The Nth Power’s amazing drummer Nikki Glaspie, and sax demon Skerik gathered together as Fiya Bomb at the Maison on New Orleans, LA’s Frenchmen Street for a late-night that will go down in the record books of unforgettable after-Fest performances!
Virtually every relevant musician in the country descends on the Crescent City during the ten-day stretch spanned by Jazz Fest, during which special one-time-only gatherings pop up all over town after the fairgrounds close. Of course, some of these one-off collabs work better than others. Fiya Bomb, however, had no trouble connecting. Medeski and Wood communicate on a near-telepathic level thanks to their decades of making music together. Skerik serves as a member of one of Medeski’s numerous side projects, DRKWAV, in addition to countless other outfits. And the ever-versatile Glaspie is a can’t-miss anchor for any band.
The players wasted no time establishing their blueprint for the evening…let Skerik and Medeski run wild while Glaspie and Wood create a splashy but rock-solid platform for their cohorts. That’s not to say that the stellar rhythm section didn’t have plenty of opportunities to take the spotlight themselves taking full advantage of their opportunities to shine. Skerik and his sardonic stage demeanor served as host for the evening, bantering with the audience about fashion and music between tortured peels and smooth jams on his sax. Medeski, as is always the case, astounded with his trademark fanning style of organ playing and his impeccable, innate sense of melody and style.
Couldn’t make it out to see Fiya Bomb? We’ve got the entire show lined up for you in the five clips below, with an amazing front-row view and soundboard audio for you folks to check out, including a monumental 40+ minute improvisational jam that simply has to be seen to be believed! After you finish watching the clips below, click here to check out our first batch of 2018 NOLA Late Night videos, including some excellent reimaginings of Led Zeppelin and P-Funk favorites.
Special thanks to Fiyawerx Productions for the audio assistance and The Maison staff for their help in making our filming efforts the best they can possibly be. Enjoy!
Fiya Bomb – “Improv 1”
Fiya Bomb – “Improv 2”
Fiya Bomb – “Improv 3”
Fiya Bomb – “Improv 4”
Fiya Bomb-“Improv 5”
Even during the daze between Jazz Fest weekends, Live For Live Music has plenty of fantastic music in store for everyone down in New Orleans (and even for everyone sitting at home wishing they were there). See below for a list of our remaining NOLA Late Nights. For more information, or to purchase your tickets, head here.
