Public service announcement: The Wood Brothers to bring the groove to Majestic Theatre on Friday. Grab comfortable shoes. Leave the cannoli.
With meristems in Boulder, shoots in Atlanta and New York, and southern Magnolia leaves in Nashville, the brothers Wood decided to collaborate after 15 years of separate projects. Brothers Oliver and Chris fruitfully combine their influences and blood to photosynthesize one part folk, two parts blues, and a pinch of bluegrass — all grown in jazz.
These days The Wood Brothers jam hard. With plenty of experience behind their jam-gizmos, the sweating is reserved for standing crowds. But before fans could open ears to groove-heady three-part harmonies with percussionist Jano Rix, brother Oliver fronted the blues/roots band King Johnson. Oliver’s dad’s other son, Chris, developed the slap, tap, and pluck in instrumental jazz trio Medeski Martin & Wood.
Why attend this show? The Wood Brothers are live performers. There’s nothing like roots-rock in a tight venue, especially if you’ve got a standing bass and Oliver’s rustic, quasi-R&B pipes. Moreover, the band’s fifth and latest studio release, The Muse, will be hitting cyber shelves in October. But I’m what the band calls “The Luckiest Man” — copies of The Muse will be available for purchase at the show.