How experimental is the Philadelphia Experiment? Well, they are not exactly blazing the trail, considering their 2001 Ropeadope joint entitled The Philadelphia Experiment comes almost a decade after their drummer, ?uestlove's own explorations with the "organic" Philly hip hop group, the Roots. Not to mention Miles Davis's pioneering album "Bitches Brew" in 1969. Nonetheless, the four Philadelphia based musicians Christian McBride, Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, Uri Cane and Pat Martino do not slouch around on their groovy and probing fusion album.

Maybe one of the only shows the group will perform together, the Saturday December 15 show at Manhattan's swanky Bowery Ballroom was an inspiring presentation of the music from the CD and beyond. In front of a packed house, they more than compensated for the weak opening DJ. After a prolonged wait, veteran bass player Christian McBride led the journey in and out of hip hop, R&B, jazz, funk and jam tunes. The excellent jazz musician whose albums feature masters such as Chick Correa and Jack DeJohnette, seemed very comfortable switching between upright and electric bass to play the funky set that seemed almost a return to his roots. In between chunky bass lines and clinical solos, McBride would joke with ?uestolove, the distinct drummer from the Roots, about their days together in the Philadelphia High School for the Performing Arts when they would funk up all the orchestra tunes.

One of his first projects away from the roots, ?uestlove showed impressive versatility and comprehensive depth by diverging from his coined, crisp hip hop beats (and those were still there), and by following McBride and the band into walking feels and psychedelic jams. He also awed the crowd--a crowd versed in the solos of drummers such as Jack DeJohnette and Tony Williams--with a few expressive and very innovative solos involving rich textures with mallets, melodic tom drum beats and singing James Brown.

Pianist Uri Cane, whose last album was an interpretation of Bach's Goldenberg Variations, brought a virtuoso performance on the keys into the mix. On the Fender Rhodes, Cane's comping was always tasteful and funky while his orgasmic solos brought the roof down and displayed the harmonic and technical mastery of a classical pianist.

Guitarist Pat Martino, the jazz musician who once suffered from amnesia from a brain aneurysm seemed to remember all his licks in his performance with the Philly group. The 50 year old straight ahead player who has combined with everyone from Coltrane to Brother Jack McDuff brought the voices of Charlie Parker and Herbie Hancock into this modern day "Bitches Brew." While there were moments where the jazz musician seemed unsure of what to contribute to the music, his boplicious lines were always tasty.

Covering original cuts from their album as well as kicking up jams on the fly, the musicians worked well together to stretch beyond their traditional realms of playing and sculpt these inspiring and danceable tunes. While they are not the only, nor the first musicians toying with this brand of fusion, this combination of blue chip players has set the precedent for the genre.