The Dropper
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = The Dropper
| type = Studio album
| artist = Medeski Martin & Wood
| cover = MMW - The Dropper.jpg
| alt =
| released = October 24, 2000
| recorded = 1999–2000
(Shacklyn, Brooklyn, NYC)
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = Jazz funk
Acid jazz
Jam band
| length = 60:40
| label = Blue Note Records{{cite web |title=Medeski, Martin & Wood |url=https://www.bluenote.com/artist/medeski-martin-wood/ |website=Blue Note Records |access-date=16 March 2021}}
| producer = Medeski Martin & Wood, Scotty Hard{{Cite web|url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/medeski_martin_wood-dropper|title=Medeski Martin and Wood The Dropper|website=exclaim.ca}}
| prev_title = Tonic
| prev_year = 2000
| next_title = Electric Tonic
| next_year = 2001
}}
{{Music ratings
|rev1 = AllMusic
|rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r503090|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic review]
|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}}
}}
The Dropper is the 2000 sixth studio album by avant-jazz-funk organ trio Medeski, Martin & Wood.{{Cite web|url=https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/medeski-martin-and-wood-the-dropper/|title=Medeski, Martin and Wood: The Dropper|first=Tony|last=Green|website=JazzTimes}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/medeski-martin-wood-mn0000406583/biography|title=Medeski, Martin & Wood | Biography & History|website=AllMusic}}
The album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/medeski-martin-wood-2/chart-history/jls/|title=Medeski Martin & Wood|magazine=Billboard}}
Critical reception
The Washington Post wrote: "In many ways the chaotic and funk-soul soundscapes on MMW's The Dropper are not avant-garde but downright conservative, coming 40 years after the advent of organ jazz and 30 after free jazz."{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/2000/12/03/mmws-dropper-an-earful-of-jazz/1552c618-facf-43ca-bc0a-007e15304695/|title=MMW's 'Dropper': An Earful Of Jazz|first=Mark Gauvreau|last=Judge|date=December 3, 2000|via=www.washingtonpost.com}} Exclaim! called The Dropper "their crankiest, most difficult album to date, as they wade into pointy-headed jazz-funk realms, but that's only because they've burrowed more deeply still into the funk." The Riverfront Times thought that "Medeski's particularly compelling in his style, banging on keyboards with a precise recklessness, and he expands his keyboard army by, it seems, dozens of instruments."{{Cite web|url=https://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/medeski-martin-and-wood/Content?oid=2473064|title=Medeski, Martin and Wood|first=Randall|last=Roberts|website=Riverfront Times}}
Track listing
- "We Are Rolling" – 7:04
- "Big Time" – 3:23
- "Fèlic" – 3:21
- "Partido Alto" – 5:42
- "Illinization" – 2:31
- "Bone Digger" – 2:22
- "Note Bleu" – 3:01
- "The Dropper" – 3:29
- "Philly Cheese Blunt" – 4:49
- "Sun Sleigh" – 2:23
- "Tsukemono" – 3:23
- "Shacklyn Knights" – 4:44
- "Norah 6" – 4:51
Performers
- John Medeski – keyboards
- Billy Martin – drums, percussion
- Chris Wood – basses
- Marshall Allen – alto sax
- Marc Ribot – guitars
- Eddie Bobe – congas
- Paula Potocki – surdo
- Charlie Burnham – violin
- Joan Wasser – violin
- Jane Scarpantoni – cello
Credits
- Engineered and mixed by Scotty Hard (except "Illinization", mixed by David Baker)
- Assisted at Shacklyn by Phillip Harvey
- Assisted at Greene Street Studios by Phil Painson
- Mastered by Howie Weinberg at Masterdisk (NYC)
- Assisted at Masterdisk by Andy Van Dette
- Photography: Danny Clinch
- Art direction and design: Chippy
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Medeski Martin & Wood}}
{{Authority control}}
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Category:Blue Note Records albums