"Jazz is the teacher. Funk is the preacher." It's a maxim upon which Medeski Martin and Wood have built a career. On The Dropper, they just happen to be doing a lot more preaching than teaching. Drenched in a gauzy fuzz, this disc scatters thumping beats, wild solos, and eerie, shadowed melodies across a landscape of cavernous groove. Although it's certainly not as accessible as earlier dance-friendly efforts, The Dropper is even more to wrap a brain around. --S. Duda