Medeski, Martin, Cline, and Metzger In Free Flight

Just after midnight at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City on December 30, 2025, a late set got underway. Billed as a Phish After-Party, it featured John Medeski (organ and keys), Billy Martin (drums), Scott Metzger (guitar and bass guitar), and Nels Cline (guitar). Phish was in the middle of its annual Madison Square Garden New Year's run (December 28-31, 2025), and people clearly came looking for the celebration to continue. Many were in for quite a surprise.

The after-party has become an annual tradition, much like the Phish residency itself, and this group has played together multiple times over the years. The chemistry was very much in evidence. Medeski and Martin are two-thirds of Medeski Martin & Wood, and over time, they have occasionally expanded that circle to include Cline. Cline is widely recognized for his 20+ year tenure with Wilco, but he also has a long history in freely improvised music and avant-garde jazz. Metzger, meanwhile, is best known for his work with Joe Russo's Almost Dead, bringing a jazz-informed improvisational approach to reimagined Grateful Dead material.

What they delivered was two uninterrupted hours of genre-blurring improvisation, with no announcements, no set breaks, and no pauses. The music moved through a wide range, from abstract soundscapes and free-jazz intensity to occasional moments where a simple melodic idea would surface and hold for a few minutes. Melodic passages appeared periodically amidst the swells of noise and exploratory sound. Cline and Metzger both have impressive rigs with a wide range of pedals and other devices that let them shift quickly from clean, articulate lines to drones, noise, and more electronic-sounding tones. Medeski moved between supportive harmony and more disruptive, percussive sounds on keys and organ. Billy Martin added a distinct dimension to the sound palette, moving well beyond a conventional drum kit role. He employed a wide range of handheld percussion, including rattles, shakers, and other noisemakers, and even brought in a flute. Much of his playing was exploratory and free, contributing color and detail as much as pulse. But at certain points, he would lock into a groove and shift the tempo and intensity, sometimes getting downright funky, and the rest of the band would fall in behind him. Those were the highlights of the show.

Late in the set, they were joined by an unannounced tenor saxophonist, Eric Hipp, which added another strong voice to the mix and pushed the group toward more overt free-jazz passages. Hipp has a history with both Medeski and Martin, and he fit in immediately, stepping right into the evolving conversation. This was a late-night stretch of inspired playing, with four master improvisers locked into a sustained, spontaneous musical dialogue that was joyful, raucous, and unrestrained.

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