Home » Jazz Articles » Radio & Podcasts » Billy Martin (aka Illy B) On The Nature Of Art And The A...

3

Billy Martin (aka Illy B) On The Nature Of Art And The Art Of Nature

Click the play button to listen

Billy Martin (also known as Illy B) is many things. He's a visual artist, a filmmaker, a teacher, a builder, a composer, a record producer... But if you know his name, chances are it's from his band Medeski, Martin and Wood, a project he's had for 30 years now along with bassist Chris Wood and keyboardist John Medeski.

Billy refers to his artistic approach as playful and he is committed to the idea of play and experimentation in art. He is also totally serious about what he does, he's a serious thinker, and he takes enormous care with what he does and how he does it. He might be playing, but he's not messing around.

A lifelong student, his path has been somewhat self directed. He spent his formative musical years taking lessons at The Drummers Collective in New York, where he came in contact with a group of musicians who would shape his music and his career, and got what he calls "the inside stuff." Notably, he refers to drummer and composer Bob Moses as one of his primary mentors.

He made a documentary film about 10 years ago with another one of his early teachers, Allen Herman. That movie, Life On Drums, is a series of discussions between Billy and Allen intercut with solo drum performances by both of them.

We spoke recently about how field recordings influenced him, the power of sincerity in music and in life, the importance of staying curious and being playful, what he calls the "world music view," how "when you're experimenting there is no such thing as perfection," the similarities between music and visual art, why Instagram is such a useful tool for self expression, working with John Scofield, and much more.

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

Radio & Podcasts


Tune in daily to hear the internet's top jazz programs including Mondo Jazz, Jazz Bastard, Spotlight On, Liner Notes, World of Jazz, Allston Boylston, One Man's Jazz, The Outer View, Neon Jazz, A Broad Spectrum, Bitches Brew and more. View our program schedule and check this week's JazzWeek Radio Chart.

Popular

Read Take Five with Pianist Irving Flores
Read Jazz em Agosto 2025
Read Bob Schlesinger at Dazzle
Read SFJAZZ Spring Concerts
Read Sunday Best: A Netflix Documentary
Read Vivian Buczek at Ladies' Jazz Festival

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.