Medeski Martin and Wood's newest album, Uninvisible, sounds old. But in a good way.

With this release, it is clear that the formerly piano-driven jazz trio has almost completely stepped away from its once conventional sound. You won't hear many acoustic keyboards on this disc, nor will you find a single swingin' groove. Uninvisible sounds more like old school, James Brown funk mixed with an exotic spookiness than jazz.

Billy Martin's normally crystal-clear drum set seems to have been slightly distorted in the recording to create a purposefully vintage tone. Chris Wood's cyclic and rhythmic bass lines carry each song with the feel of an early hip-hop record. Keyboard virtuoso John Medeski is still the group's driving force, but he now uses no less than 12 different keyboard instruments to create some truly unique moods.

Tracks like the soulful "I Wanna Ride You" and the hypnotic "Retirement Song" demonstrate much of the album's formula nicely. The rhythms created by Martin and Wood take on the feel of an electronically looped sample, while Medeski brings out his strangest melodic sound effects over top.

Although much of this album focuses on this straight-ahead slow funk, there are some more eccentric songs, which the trio fills out by using a diverse crowd of guests including a solid horn section and turntablists DJ Olive and DJ P-Love.

With the exception of the shape-shifting "Nocturnal Transmission" and a few strategically placed turntable fills however, Uninvisible has more repetitive hypnotism than variety. But by relying instead on MMW's mesmerizing ambiance, the disc does come off as a decent and interesting piece of music.

-- Reviewed by Paul Weinstein