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Aaron Goldberg

For the Boston-born, New York-based Aaron Goldberg, Worlds his 2006 release on the Sunnyside label, is an encyclopedic circumnavigation of his ever-evolving musicality, which began with piano lessons at the age of seven. In high school Aaron got hooked on jazz by Bob Sinicrope of Milton Academy and continued his pursuit with saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi, two master educators.

"At first improvisation was a mystery and a puzzle, but soon it became a profound inner and outer journey as life and music entwined." After receiving awards from Berklee School of Music and DownBeat, Aaron left at age 17 for NYC. At the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in 1991 he had his first taste of jazz in the big city, and at school he met many of his current contemporaries and friends, including Omer Avital, Brad Mehldau, Roy Hargrove, Ali Jackson and others.

In 1992 he returned to Boston and enrolled at Harvard College. While at Harvard, Aaron worked with a wide variety of artists from nearby Berklee and beyond, and won the International Association of Jazz Educators' prestigious Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship award as well as first place in National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Recognition and Talent Search in 1993. Soon he was discovered by vocalist and first lady of jazz Betty Carter and was a founding member of her historic Jazz Ahead program.

He continued to perform at clubs around both New York and Boston, often commuting in the wee hours, and it was not long before he met Rogers and Harland. Aaron graduated magna cum laude from Harvard in 1996 with a degree in History and Science and a concentration in Mind, Brain and Behavior. On the weekends he held a long-time residence at Wally's Cafe in Boston, and the fall after graduation he moved to Brooklyn.

Aaron wasted no time in the Big Apple. He quickly established himself as a stellar sideman, performing with a vast array of leaders including Al Foster, Nicholas Payton, Stefon Harris, Tom Harrell, Freddie Hubbard, Mark Turner, and others. In 1998 he joined the band of Joshua Redman, with whom he toured for 4 years and recorded two albums (Beyond, 2001 and Passage of Time, 2002).

Most recently, in addition to leading his telepathic trio Aaron has been touring and recording with young guitar guru Kurt Rosenwinkel. In 2005 he also toured South America with Madeleine Peyroux and spent 6 months performing with Wynton Marsalis in his quartet as well as with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.

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Album Review

Yes! Trio: Spring Sings

Read "Spring Sings" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


With over twenty albums as leaders between them and two previous trio recordings including the widely acclaimed Groove Du Jour (jazz&people, 2019) the Yes! Trio--drummer Ali Jackson, bassist Omer Avital, and pianist Aaron Goldberg--light it up bright on Spring Sings!. An old school trio session, Spring Sings! is a jumpy (in a non-anxiety ridden way), spiky (ditto) and punchy (not punch drunk) affair that gets the ball rolling from the start with Jackson's most Ahmad Jamal-like title track. ...

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Radio & Podcasts

The Montreal Jazz Festival Is Back In Full Swing

Read "The Montreal Jazz Festival Is Back In Full Swing" reviewed by Leo Sidran


After a two-year slowdown due to COVID, the Montreal International Jazz Festival came back this year. I had been there a couple times, in and out, as a musician. I went this year to cover the festival's full return for The Third Story. When you're a musician at a festival like MJF, the job is actually pretty clear. You get to the gig, play the gig, pack up and go to the next gig. But what does a ...

4
Album Review

Raphaël Pannier Quartet: Faune

Read "Faune" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


On his first recording as a leader, drummer Raphaël Pannier shows himself to be a musician who has one foot in the classical world and one foot in jazz. He leads his group in a set of original and classic compositions from both genres, maintaining a sense of formal grace and improvisational energy throughout. Pannier's quartet performs two familiar jazz tunes. A version of Ornette Coleman's “Lonely Woman" flows with somber intensity; Miguel Zenon's alto flies and Ben ...

9
Album Review

Raphaël Pannier Quartet: Faune

Read "Faune" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


The debut from drummer Raphaël Pannier has no difficulty laying out references to modern modes of impressionism and the nature of wildlife implied in its title. Its opener --a ten-minute take on Ornette Coleman's “Lonely Woman" that offers slinky melody, sophisticated coloring, intense upheaval, a bass soliloquy and a return to the shadowy theme--is but the first of many indications that Pannier can paint open compositions in altered light while also awakening and taming tension. It's an artful display of ...

Album Review

Aaron Goldberg: At the Edge of the World

Read "At the Edge of the World" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


A quattro anni di distanza dall'album The Now Aaron Goldberg presenta un sorprendente piano trio, sostituendo il lungo sodalizio col contrabbassista Reuben Rogers e il batterista Eric Harland. I nuovi partner sono Matt Penman e Leon Parker e la sorpresa riguarda proprio quest'ultimo, che ritorna a incidere negli Stati Uniti dopo quasi vent'anni di assenza. Parker è stato tra i batteristi/percussionisti più innovativi degli anni novanta ma all'alba del nuovo millennio s'è trasferito in Francia eclissandosi quasi completamente dalla scena ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Aaron Goldberg, John Coltrane and more

Read "Aaron Goldberg, John Coltrane and more" reviewed by Joe Dimino


This week's episode of Neon Jazz opens with At the Edge of the World, the latest album by gifted New York City-based jazz pianist Aaron Goldberg. During the rest of the episode we feature music ranging from the feisty veteran Betty Carter to the richly talented Kansas City saxophonist Ernest Melton from his highly anticipated album The Time of Slave Is Over. Also featured are, among others, the great Don Friedman, Ken Thomson, James Francies, John Fedchock and old masters ...

56
Album Review

Aaron Goldberg: At The Edge Of The World

Read "At The Edge Of The World" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


One interesting aspect of this recording relates to eminent pianist Aaron Goldberg (Kurt Rosenwinkel, Joshua Redman) reuniting with cutting-edge drummer, Leon Parker in Paris. Back in the 1990s, the artists' connected for a gig, but Goldberg was initially indoctrinated to the drummer's performances with pianists, Jacky Terrasson, Brad Mehldau and other notables. But as the press release notes, Parker moved to France in 2001 and took a self-imposed sabbatical from playing. At the peak of his notoriety, he dropped out ...

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1

Recording

Yes! Trio: with Ali Jackson, Aaron Goldberg and Omer Avital release 'Spring Sings'

Yes! Trio: with Ali Jackson, Aaron Goldberg and Omer Avital release 'Spring Sings'

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity

Four years after the success of Groove du Jour, named best album of the year in 2019 by the French Academie du Jazz, Yes! Trio is finally back! Strengthened by their differences, these musicians, who never seemed predisposed to meet—a drummer, scion of the great African-American jazz family; a hippie bassist with Yemenite and Moroccan roots; a bon ton Bostonian with a Harvard degree pianist—united by thirty years of love of swing continue to embrace jazz with the same happiness, ...

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Performance / Tour

Aaron Goldberg Jazz Trio Performs at Milton Academy on November 20

Aaron Goldberg Jazz Trio Performs at Milton Academy on November 20

Source: MassJazz: Jazz in Massachusetts


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Recording

Aaron Goldberg and Guillermo Klein - Bienestan (2011)

Aaron Goldberg and Guillermo Klein - Bienestan (2011)

Source: Something Else!

When pianist Aaron Goldberg set out to do this record, he wanted to mix things up with the compositions and arrangement, and so he called in Argentinian composer, arranger and fellow pianist Guillermo Klein to take the lead in those departments. Klein, who is fast getting a reputation of being a sort of Gil Evans of Argentina, brings his orchestral sensibilities to Aaron Goldberg and his small combo consisting of Matt Penman (bass) and Eric Harland (drums). Miguel Zenon (alto ...

162

Recording

Flutist/Composer Itai Kriss Releases New CD "The Shark" Featuring Aaron Goldberg, Omer Avital, Eric McPherson, Avashai Cohen, and John Ellis.

Flutist/Composer Itai Kriss Releases New CD "The Shark" Featuring Aaron Goldberg, Omer Avital, Eric McPherson, Avashai Cohen, and John Ellis.

Source: Two for the Show Media

Flutist/Composer Itai Kriss releases new CD “The Shark" featuring Aaron Goldberg, Omer Avital, Eric McPherson, Avashai Cohen, & John Ellis. Backed by a hard-grooving rhythm section and stellar special guests Itai Kriss explores the junction of swinging Hard-bop, Caribbean rhythms and funky beats in the first record as a leader from the virtuoso flutist and composer. Itai Kriss is a dynamic flutist whose musical style encompasses Jazz, Latin and Middle Eastern sounds. Born into a musical household in Israel, to ...

389

Performance / Tour

Aaron Goldberg's Trio with Omer Avital and Eric Harland in Harrisburg on Sunday, February 20th

Aaron Goldberg's Trio with Omer Avital and Eric Harland in Harrisburg on Sunday, February 20th

Source: Michael Ricci

The Central Pennsylvania Friends of Jazz are proud to present the Aaron Goldberg Trio with Aaron Goldberg (piano), Omer Avital (bass) and Eric Harland (drums) on Sunday, February 20th, beginning at 6 PM. Opening at 5 pm will be the Bucknell University Jazz Band, under the direction of Barry Long. The concert will take place in the small ballroom at the The Hilton Harrisburg located at 1 North 2nd Street, Harrisburg PA 17101. Phone: 717-233-6000. Tickets are always available at ...

118

Opinion

Swing and the Blues: Still Essential Skills and Wisdom for Successful Jazz Musicians?

Swing and the Blues: Still Essential Skills and Wisdom for Successful Jazz Musicians?

Source: The Independent Ear by Willard Jenkins

In what we anticipate will be a series of commentaries from young jazz musicians (in this case we're talking 20 and 30something artists). Our first respondent is the very thoughtful and grounded pianist Aaron Goldberg. Born & raised in Boston, Goldberg's advanced music studies began at age 17 at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. After enrolling at Harvard, where he graduated in '96, Aaron won the IAJE Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship award. Speaking of swing & the ...

191

Performance / Tour

Jazz Pianist Aaron Goldberg Playing at Berklee and Milton Academy in November

Jazz Pianist Aaron Goldberg Playing at Berklee and Milton Academy in November

Source: MassJazz: Jazz in Massachusetts

World renowned jazz pianist Aaron Goldberg is performing with his trio at the Cafe 939 at the Berklee College of Music at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 3 and Thursday, November 4, 2010. He'll be joined by his trio, bassist Rueben Rogers and drummer Eric Harland, and will also jam with students from Berklee. Tickets are $10. Then on Sunday, November 7, at 1:00 p.m., Goldberg performs at Milton Academy, Strauss Library, for a fundraiser in support of the academy's ...

190

Performance / Tour

Aaron Goldberg Trio Performing at the Regattabar in Cambridge on Friday, October 8

Aaron Goldberg Trio Performing at the Regattabar in Cambridge on Friday, October 8

Source: MassJazz: Jazz in Massachusetts

Jazz pianist and composer Aaron Goldberg and his Trio are performing two shows at the Regattabar on Friday, October 8, 2010, at 7:30 and 10:00 p.m. Tickets are $22 and can be ordered online or at the club. The Trio, which includes Goldberg, bassist Omer Avital and drummer Eric Harland, is celebrating the release of its new recording, Home, available on Sunnyside Records. Goldberg is a Boston native who credits his love of jazz from two influential educators: Bob Sinicrope ...

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Recording

Available Today -- Israeli Guitarist Yotam Fronts All-Star Lineup on JLP Debut, "Resonance" --Features Christian McBride, Aaron Goldberg, Greg Hutchin

Available Today -- Israeli Guitarist Yotam Fronts All-Star Lineup on JLP Debut, "Resonance" --Features Christian McBride, Aaron Goldberg, Greg Hutchin

Source: DL Media

Available Today -- Israeli Guitarist Yotam Fronts All-Star Lineup on JLP Debut, Resonance

Features Christian McBride Aaron Goldberg, Greg Hutchinson and Special Guest Roy Hargrove

On Resonance, his debut for Jazz Legacy Productions, accomplished Israeli guitarist-composer Yotam has one foot firmly planted in his bebop roots while also showcasing his love of Brazilian music, American blues, Jamaican reggae and Israeli folk songs. Tying this highly eclectic program together is Yotam's exceptional, rhythmically assured six-string work, which is marked ...

233

Recording

Israeli Guitarist Yotam Fronts All-Star Lineup on JLP Debut, "Resonance" --May 4 Release Features Christian McBride, Aaron Goldberg, Greg Hutchinson A

Israeli Guitarist Yotam Fronts All-Star Lineup on JLP Debut, "Resonance" --May 4 Release Features Christian McBride, Aaron Goldberg, Greg Hutchinson A

Source: DL Media

May 4 Release Features Christian McBride Aaron Goldberg, Greg Hutchinson and Special Guest Roy Hargrove On Resonance, his debut for Jazz Legacy Productions, accomplished Israeli guitarist-composer Yotam (full name Yotam Silberstein) has one foot firmly planted in his bebop roots while also showcasing his love of Brazilian music, American blues, Jamaican reggae and Israeli folk songs. Tying this highly eclectic program together is Yotam's exceptional, rhythmically assured six-string work, which is marked by his inviting warm tones, clear articulation ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Spring Sings

Jazz&People
2024

buy

Faune

French Paradox
2020

buy

At the Edge of the...

Sunnyside Records
2019

buy

Come What May

Nonesuch Records
2019

buy

The Now

Sunnyside Records
2015

buy

Yes!

Sunnyside Records
2012

buy

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