It's possible to admire Medeski Martin and Wood's craft and guile in pushing against stylistic restraints while recognizing that their music isn't quite as much fun as it once was--or that this hugely popular trio may think it is. Full of shaggy cross-textures, plummy grooves, and spooky electronic underpinnings, Uninvisible is a lively sonic stew. Once a universe unto themselves, keyboardist John Medeski, drummer Billy Martin, and bassist Chris Wood continue to smartly expand their jam-band base, here featuring a brash five-piece horn section from the Brooklyn-based Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, turntablists DJ Olive and DJ P Love, and, for a spoken-word number, craggy-voiced Southern rock eccentric Col. Bruce Hampton. When Medeski is riding that Hammond organ and the group is taking its patented soulful detours, as on "Pappy Check" and the Booker T-ish "Smoke," all is right with the world. But even with Medeski dabbling on a roomful of other instruments, including the Mellotron, mini-Moog, and Arp, the songs don't have a lot of variety. And crowded with effects, the music can bog down in its own abstract logic--though there's no resisting the ping-pong game being played on "Off the Table." The chief rewards of Uninvisible are in the details. Until further notice, a headphone advisory is in effect. --Lloyd Sachs
