CD: "Note Bleu: The Best of the Blue Note Years: 1998-2005" by Medeski Martin and Wood

Released: April 4

Style: Jazz

My take: New York-based instrumental jazz trio Medeski Martin and Wood is the best band you probably haven't heard of — yet.

For 14 years, keyboardist John Medeski, drummer/percussionist Billy Martin and bassist Chris Wood have recorded their own innovative, genre-bending brand of jazz-fusion. Everything from soul and funk to rock and blues has been incorporated into MMW's musical arsenal.

"Note Bleu" summarizes the trio's work with its current record label, with which they signed in 1998 after years of self-producing and company-hopping. Between then and 2005, the band released five studio albums and a live one.

Describing the band's sound, even individual songs, without trivializing the music's innovativeness is hard. It's one of those things you must hear to fully understand. But for the sake of review, I shall try.

Opening song "The Dropper" is spacey and reminiscent of video-game music on acid and steroids. Following that is "Sugar Craft," which epitomizes the band's improvisational feel. The guitar riffs and trippy noise are thrown together but sound neither random nor methodical. The turntable scratching at the end is a nice touch as well. Next up is "I Wanna Ride You," an aural extrapolation of "that feeling" you get when eye candy crosses your line of sight. The one live track is a tremendous, beautiful, slow rendition of "Hey Joe" off of 2000's "Tonic (Live)."

There is a plethora of truly great material here. Listing and describing every song would kill some joy in listening to MMW's music. Not knowing what to expect is part of the fun because, truly, there's no one out there remotely similar.

Nowadays, musical artists and fans seem to think of genres as static. That's why MMW is such a great band. It defies preconceived notions of what jazz should sound like and brings in a new breed of fans through solid albums and relentless touring.

"Note Bleu" is easily one of the best albums released in 2006. Pick it up if you want something new or you're a longtime jazz fan who's curious about how dynamic the genre can be. If afterward you crave MMW's older stuff, start with 1996's "Shack-Man," which was recorded in the jungles of Maui and features "Night Marchers," the band's best song to date, possibly inspired by creatures of Hawaiian folklore.

Jeremy Castillo recently received his associate of arts degree from Windward Community College.