Shack-man
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Shack-man
| type = Studio album
| artist = Medeski Martin & Wood
| cover = Shackman.jpg
| alt =
| released = October 15, 1996
| recorded = June 1996
(The Shack, Hawaii)
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = Jazz-funk, soul jazz, acid jazz
| length =
| label = Rykodisc{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/medeski-martin-wood-mn0000406583/biography|title=Medeski, Martin & Wood | Biography & History|website=AllMusic}}
Gramavision
| producer = Medeski Martin & Wood, David Baker
| prev_title = Friday Afternoon in the Universe
| prev_year = 1995
| next_title = Farmer's Reserve
| next_year = 1997
}}
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1Score = {{rating|3|5}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/shack-man-mw0000079324|title=Shack-Man - Medeski, Martin & Wood | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic|via=www.allmusic.com}}
|rev2 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
|rev2score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=5 |page=684}}
|rev3 = MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide
|rev3score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite book |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |date=1999 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |page=741}}
|rev4 = The New Rolling Stone Album Guide
|rev4score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |date=2004 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |page=533}}
}}
Shack-man is the fourth album by experimental jazz fusion trio Medeski Martin & Wood, released in 1996.{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-11-22-ca-1547-story.html|title=Catching New Grooves After a Great Escape|date=November 22, 1996|website=Los Angeles Times}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8AiEx07v-8QC&dq=shack+man+medeski+martin+wood+1996&pg=PA122|title=Jambands: The Complete Guide to the Players, Music, & Scene|first=Dean|last=Budnick|date=November 19, 2003|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=9780879307455|via=Google Books}} It was widely considered their commercial breakthrough, peaking at #7 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/medeski-martin-wood-2/chart-history/jcr/|title=Medeski Martin & Wood|magazine=Billboard}}
Production
The album was recorded in an isolated shack in Hawaii, with power supplied by solar energy and generators.{{Cite web|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1996-11-01-9610290753-story.html|title=MEDESKI, MARTIN & WOOD|first=PARRY|last=GETTELMAN|website=OrlandoSentinel.com}}
Critical reception
AllMusic called the album "the best example to date of the trio's cerebral fusion of soul-jazz, hip-hop, and post-punk worldbeat." New York wrote that "the changes are episodic, as in funk, rather than conversational, as in jazz."{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q-ECAAAAMBAJ&dq=shack+man+medeski+martin+wood+1996&pg=PA91|title=Groove Theory|work=New York|date=November 4, 1996|publisher=New York Media, LLC|via=Google Books}} Relix called it a "dark, funky dorm room breakthrough."{{Cite web|url=https://relix.com/articles/detail/medeski_martin_wood_the_triple_entente/|title=Medeski Martin & Wood: The Triple Entente|date=May 17, 2017|website=Relix Media}}
The Cleveland Scene wrote that the group "made it cool to groove again with 1996s Shack-man, a Hammond-hammered Phish-lot mainstay that opened the door for instrumental improv groups like Soulive and Particle."{{Cite web|url=https://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/medeski-martin--wood/Content?oid=1487080|title=Medeski, Martin & Wood|first=Jeff|last=Miller|website=Cleveland Scene}}
Track listing
All music by Medeski Martin & Wood except where noted.
- "Is There Anybody Here That Love My Jesus" (traditional, arr. by MMW) – 4:27
- "Think" – 5:16
- "Dracula" – 4:16
- "Bubblehouse" – 4:27
- "Henduck" – 4:38
- "Strance of the Spirit Red Gator" – 7:06
- "Spy Kiss" – 4:22
- "Lifeblood" – 7:06
- "Jelly Belly" – 4:42
- "Night Marchers" – 4:26
- "Kenny" – 4:43
Performers
- John Medeski – Hammond B3 organ, clavinet, Wurlitzer electric piano, Pianet T, toy piano, Yamaha CSO1 II
- Billy Martin – drums, percussion
- Chris Wood – acoustic bass, electric basses, guitar
Credits
- Recording Engineer: David Baker
- Assisted by Carl Green and Mark Kindermann
- Mixed at IIWII, Weehawken, NJ with David Baker and Katsu Naito
- Edited at Current Sounds, NYC with Bob Ward
- Mastered by Dr. Toby Mountain, Northeastern Digital Recording
- Executive producer: Hans Wendl
- LP management: Liz Penta
- Band photo by Michael Macioce
- Artwork by Billy Martin, 1996