With Medeski Martin & Wood off the road until a mid-October appearance on the Xingolati Cruise, drummer Billy Martin will be performing a variety of contexts in New York City over the coming weeks. This Sunday hell be at Tonic joining Japanese guitarist Kazuhisa Uchihashi. Next Friday September 30, Martin will return to the venue with his band Socket, which also features Cyro Baptista, Shelley Hirsch, Min Xiao Fen, Charles Burnham, Calvin Weston and Shahzad Ismaily (the group released a disc on Martins Amulet label this past summer). The next night he will appear at St. Mark’s Church as part of a Hurricane Katrina benefit that will also include Toni Morrison, Cecil Taylor and Anne Waldman.