If the sights, sounds and especially the smells of a big ol' state fair are characterized by too much of a muchness—e.g., fried everything, butter art and death-spewing tractor pulls—then this instrumental trio turns down the excess to a more sane setting of, say, beguiling funhouse mirrors (with the occasional two-headed barnyard denizen) on State Fête, their first document of spontaneous live studio composery. Drummer-percussionist Billy Martin, keyboardist-saxophonist Matt Glassmeyer and guitarist Jonathan Goldberger are all veteran miners of improv gold as members of combos both overground and underground. Their bios are as extended as their instrumental techniques—and that's sayin' something.
Martin's organic collection of homemade percussion artifacts, which he often shakes, rattles and rolls while simultaneously operating a drum kit, gives the studio and quick sage smudge to kick off extended opener "Triangle on Triangle." Glassmeyer joins in on a tenor saxophone he plays with a reedless mouthpiece of his own invention, which lends it euphonious trumpet hues. He also commands a modified Wurlitzer electric piano to deploy a variety of conversational melodies, from the seductive to the satanic, evoking electric Miles.
Fairs encourage drifting, and on tracks like "Queen Substance" and "Anemone" you can sense the threesome free-associating until everything suddenly snaps into focus—and then back out. Goldberger especially bides his time, lurking in the harmonic underbrush until striking like a digitally delayed mongoose. And while you can hear much more frantic free improvising on any given New York night, Martin, Glassmeyer and Goldberger deliver at least an implied groove, from second-line New Orleans parade beats to Brazilian forró, on nearly every track. "Tal Vez Distante" (Perhaps Distant), for example, evolves into a sensuous sort of tinkling clockwork windchimes shuffle. A million moments like this invite listeners into enigmatic zones suggesting festivities cosmic, junglelike and all the healing spaces in-between.
