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Tonic (Medeski Martin & Wood album)

album by Medeski Martin & Wood

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 11, 2026
Entity authorityQ7821371 ↗
Source-derived summary

Tonic is a live album by experimental jazz fusion trio Medeski Martin & Wood recorded at Tonic in New York City from March 16–20 and 23–26, 1999. Medeski Martin & Wood played their first live performance at Tonic on July 4, 1998, not long after the club opened in the Spring of 1998. Like their first album, Notes from the Underground, Tonic was recorded in their original acoustic format: piano, bass and drums. This format was replaced by electric alternatives brought about by the restrictions of touring during the early 1990s. The setting and format of Tonic is reminiscent of Medeski Martin & Wood's acoustic roots. The live performance was conducted in front of a 150-person audience that almost surrounded the musicians.

Track listing

Personnel

John Medeski – piano, melodica

Billy Martin – drums, percussion, mbira

Chris Wood – bass

Credits

Recorded live by Federico Cribiore

Prepared for mastering by David Baker and Mark Wilder

Mastered at Sony Mastering by Mark Wilder

Project manager: Mantis Evar

Inlay photo: Melissa Carusa

Art direction and design: Chippy

About David Baker (1945-2004)

(Sound engineer)

"A glance at his recordings reveals a phenomenal number of late-night favorites: Chico Hamilton: Still Sensitive, Paul Bley and Gary Peacock: Partners, Shirley Horn: Here's To Life, Astor Piazzolla: Rough Dancer and the Cyclical Night, Richie Beirach Trio: Trust, Anthony Davis: Hidden Voices, and, of course, pretty much anything by Medeski, Martin & Wood".

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Tonic (Medeski Martin & Wood album)” as album by Medeski Martin & Wood. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1999, 1998, 1945, 2004—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2000. The account is most persuasive where Tonic, Medeski and Martin can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as album by Medeski Martin & Wood. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7821371. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1999, 1998, 1945 and 2004.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Tonic (Medeski Martin & Wood album)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Tonic (Medeski Martin & Wood album) primary sources, Tonic (Medeski Martin & Wood album) archive and Tonic research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Tonic (Medeski Martin & Wood album)”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Tonic (Medeski Martin & Wood album)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.