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Jonathan Goldberger

Guitarist Jonathan Goldberger spent most of his youth on the outskirts of the Everglades in Florida. From there he migrated west to the Rockies where he studied with musical guru Art Lande and played and toured with the cult spacey/bluesy Fat Mama. He found his way to Brooklyn in 2001 where he has worked extensively in both the music and film worlds. Goldberger has composed and produced music for two award-winning feature films, Trans and The Hawk is Dying. He performs and tours with artists and bands including Red Baraat, Jim Black (John Zorn's Bagatelles...including a performance at the Village Vanguard), and Joe Russo (Hooteroll, etc) among many others. Recent recordings include the acoustic collective Surface to Air, Chris Lightcap’s Superette (with Nels Cline and John Medeski), Red Baraat, and his own album Visitors (with JP Schlegelmilch and Jim Black), one of Rolling Stone’s 20 Best Jazz Albums of 2018.

Billy Martin + Matt Glassmeyer + Jonathan Goldberger: State Fête

Read "State Fête" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
February 7, 2026

Billy Martin, the renowned groove master and founding drummer of Medeski Martin & Wood, has spent decades collaborating with boundary--pushing artists including John Lurie in the Lounge Lizards and John Zorn in his Cobra ensembles, all while exploring instrument design, filmmaking, and visual art. His 2026 project, State Fête, unites him with multi-instrumentalist Matt Glassmeyer and guitarist Jonathan Goldberger in a captivating exploration of live-composed soundscapes--think of it as a sonic state fair where the familiar becomes delightfully warped.

Album Review

Ye Olde 2: Ye Olde 2: At the End of Time

Read "Ye Olde 2: At the End of Time" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
December 9, 2025

Ten years after the first Ye Olde (Yestereve Records, 2015) was framed around a fantasy quest into a riotous Brooklyn guitar summit, trombonist extraordinaire Jacob Garchik returns with Ye Olde 2: At the End of Time, a 48-minute sci-fi prog jazz odyssey stretching from the heat death of the universe to the resurrection of consciousness itself. The original crew--Mary Halvorson, Brandon Seabrook, and Jonathan Goldberger on guitars, Vinnie Sperrazza on drums--anchors six of the eight tracks plus the ...

Album Review

Brian Shankar Adler: Fourth Dimension

Read "Fourth Dimension" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
February 24, 2020

A percussionist with fierce rhythmic dynamism and a multiplicity of ideas, Brian Shankar Adler has steadily assembled a formidable body of work over the last several years, despite being relatively under-recognized. Much of this music has been released incrementally, through digitally downloaded EPs, perhaps attenuating its impact. But Adler should receive much more visibility with Fourth Dimension, a full-length album that pulls together the best of his work since 2015, and it offers a strong portrait of one of the ...