Review: Billy Martin + Matt Glassmeyer + Jonathan Goldberge at AyurPrana Listening Room

On Jan. 19, playing just the third show of their first ever tour together, the trio of Billy Martin, Matt Glassmeyer, and Jonathan Goldberger pulled off something that felt nearly impossible: drawing a full crowd for experimental improvised music on a cold Monday night. The inquisitive audience was rewarded handsomely, witnessing three masters of their craft operating at a remarkably high level.

Although their debut album, State Fête, was only a few days old — and the trio itself a newly formed unit — Martin, Glassmeyer, and Goldberger are all seasoned veterans with deep and impressive résumés. Fans of the legendary jazz-fusion outfit Medeski Martin & Wood turned out in force to see Martin’s singular percussion work, but while he may be the most recognizable name on the bill, his collaborators are no less formidable.

With Martin on drums and assorted percussion, Glassmeyer rotating between a modified electric piano, reedless saxophone, and an array of homemade instruments, and Goldberger exploring the full expressive range of his electric guitar, the trio guided an attentive room through a vivid musical journey over two sets, separated by a brief intermission. At times sounding like a strange and compelling hybrid of Moondog, Pat Metheny, and the most unhinged early-psychedelic incarnation of Pink Floyd, the music flowed effortlessly from meditative and contemplative passages to noisy chaos to moments that simply rocked. The transitions were so fluid they never felt like shifts at all.

In an era dominated by endless nostalgia tours and artists coasting on a single chart-topping hit from decades past, it was genuinely heartening to see a room full of adventurous listeners eager to follow seasoned improvisers wherever the music chose to go.

(Photos by Jonny Leather)