Imagine a musician with the precision and range of a celebrated ballroom pianist (he was classically trained at a young age) then mix in a bit of American stank (wicked analog synth bends and blazing organs). This might describe John Medeski, savant keyboard player of the jazz/groove trio Medeski, Martin and Wood. Accompanied by bassist Chris Wood and percussionist Billy Martin, the band first hit the New York jazz scene in 1992. Their unique blend of instrumental music touches jazz, funk, hip-hop, Latin, avant-garde and beyond. You can catch Medeski Martin and Wood live at Liberty Hall on April 20.

So you guys usually start your shows in free-form…

(laughs) Everybody says that, but yeah, we think this is good for us because it sort of calls in the improvisational spirits, paying them homage, so they give us something to do later in the show.

Who out there can match your strength on the keyboard?

Herbie Hancock. I’m not even close to being on his level. He’s never played a bad note in his life. Or there’s Jamie Staff; he’s unbelievable. I don’t even think I’m that good, I’ve got a lot to learn.

So you’ve always got a great mix of keyboards in your setup. What have you been playing with lately?

Well, the piano keeps drawing me back, but I’ve got this new Wurlitzer electric piano in my setup that’s got this real nasally sound, kind of like a Far East organ. It’s cool.

What keeps you focused on your music?

Drugs. No, I’m joking. I don’t know, there’s just a lot of things I want to do. It’s the actual things themselves that keep me going.

If you were exiled to a desert island and you could take one book and one CD, what would you take?

I’d probably take a book of blank pages so I could draw and write stuff down myself. The CD, well, it would all depend on the day. I would either take John Coltrane’s “Love Supreme” or Glen Gould playing the “Bach Goldberg Variations,” his newest one.