The group began carving out their unique musical path in summer 1991. At the time, Medeski and Wood, who had attended the New England Conservatory of Music, were busy playing in such Manhattan clubs as the Village Gate. The two were introduced to Martin, who had worked with such notables as John Zorn and John Lurie, through a mutual friend. When Martin sat in with Medeski and Wood for a week at the Village Gate, the three quickly realized they had a winning chemistry. The trio has been redefining that musical chemistry ever since.
Wood agrees that the two CDs have their similarities.
One was David Baker, who has done a lot of records for us - our earlier records, all the Gramavision records except for one. And then half the album was done by the engineer who did The Dropper. It kind of makes sense. You're introducing a little bit of that sound on Combustication, and The Dropper kind of takes it all the way there. That's not to say the two CDs are carbon copies of each other.