Photo credit: Marc Pagani

John Medeski’s Mad Skillet will release their debut studio effort on November 9 via Indirecto Records. On this album (and on the tour that kicks off on November 3), Medeski is joined by guitarist Will Bernard and tandem of players at the heart of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band: sousaphonist Kirk Joseph and drummer Terence Higgins. The project resulted from some late-night sets that Medeski and Bernard put together during the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, drawing on the palettes of all four players.

Today we premiere “Man About Town” the first tune from the forthcoming album. Bernard describes it as “a kind of lopsided funk groove in 6/4 with a reggae bass line. It has a loping flat tire thing happening that is not built for speed but gets there just the same. The ‘man about town’ in question is probably under the influence of something or other and is making his way around in a sort of Buster Keaton style. Naturally it’s after hours, possibly in our beloved town of New Orleans. Top hats may or may not be involved. I wrote the song a long time ago and revamped it for Mad Skillet with a new bridge. I wanted to bring in a couple of songs that were simple enough to learn quickly, but had something unusual about them that could lead to extended improvs and on the spot arrangements that could change depending on how the group was feeling at any particular moment.”

Medeski adds, “It’s fitting that one of Will Bernard’s songs leads off the record. He was my original partner playing late nights during Jazzfest before we became an actual band with Kirk and Terence. There’s something that happens down in New Orleans that brings out this whole other side of his playing. ‘Man About Town’ epitomizes that whole crooked, funky, New Orleans vibration that this band is about.”

The band’s upcoming dates appear below the stream.

John Medeski’s Mad Skillet Tour Dates:
November 3 – Burnet, TX – UtopiaFest
November 5 – Grand Rapids, MI – Elevation at the Intersection
November 6 – Goshen, IN – Ignition Garage
November 7 – Evanston, IL – Space (Early | Late)
November 9 – Cincinnati, OH – Live at Ludlow Garage
November 10 – Kent, OH – Kent Stage
November 11 – Buffalo, NY – Buffalo Iron Works
November 13 – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
November 14 – Cohoes, NY – Cohoes Music Hall
November 15 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Bowl
November 16 – Ardmore, PA – Ardmore Music Hall
November 17 – Washington DC – The Hamilton
November 18 – Asbury Park, NJ – Asbury Lanes
January 15 – Jackson Hole, WY – Center For The Arts
January 16 – Salt Lake City, UT – The State Room
January 18 – Frisco, CO – 10 Mile Music Hall
January 19 – Denver, CO – Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
January 20 – Ft. Collins, CO – The Armory
April 19 – Atlanta, GA – Sweetwater 420 Festival