BRANDON GOLDBERG TRIO

LIVE AT DIZZY’S

Cellar Music Group

Brandon Goldberg, piano; Ben Wolfe, bass; Aaron Kimmel, drums.

Here is a trio of musicians who make me feel warm and fuzzy as they play a group of familiar, standard tunes I know and love. Goldberg, on piano, is the group leader at the unbelievable age of eighteen years young.  But don’t let his age fool you.  This talented musician sparkles and shines with a talent far beyond his age.  He stands on the shoulders of legendary pianists like Ahmad Jamal, Oscar Peterson, and Nat King Cole. When I listen to this album, I’m thrown back in time to the 1950’s and 1960s, when Supperclub trios were extremely popular, and the trios of Red Garland and Sonny Clark were exploring jazz in new and unbridled ways. Brandon Goldberg is also investigating new ways of playing old songs. He’s rediscovering the standards that we are comfortable hearing, stuffing them with fresh harmonics and innovative arrangements that modernize old, beautiful tunes like Gershwin’s “It Ain’t Necessarily So” or Harold Arlen’s “Let’s Fall in Love.” This album is particularly dear to Goldberg’s heart because it was recorded at Dizzy’s club.

“The first time I heard music in New York was at Dizzy’s. My parents took me to see the Bill Charlap Trio at their first performance.  Now, Bill Charlap and Renee Rosnes come to hear us on the first night of our run,” Brandon Goldberg let’s pure awe color each word he speaks.

Although he has toured the world and worked at a plethora of jazz clubs, this ‘live’ recording in New York City, at one of the premiere American jazz clubs, remains his dream-come-true-moment. When Mr. Charlap and his trio opened Jazz at Lincoln Center’s famed venue, (Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola), Brandon Goldberg had to be a toddler.  In fact, at the age of three little Brandon surprised his parents by sitting down at the piano and playing with harmonic intelligence, as though he had already taken piano lessons.  He made a national impact on Steve Harvey’s “Little Big Shots” show, and as a child appeared on the Harry Connick Jr. television show.  In 2013 and 2015, Brandon was the youngest recipient of the Miami Music Club Scholarship.  He also won first place in both those years for his Original Composition and Piano Solo Performances. Although the awards keep coming, starting from when he was a preteen, he is most proud of his 2024 Young Arts Winner with Distinction Award.  In 2023, he was a semifinalist in the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition and he’s the youngest recipient of the 2022 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award.

In 2019, he released his first album titled “Let’s Play!” featuring three of his original compositions and six standards.

In 2021, his second album was released and titled “In Good Time.” It featured the late, great drummer Ralph Peterson, Jr., Luques Curtis on bass, with Stacy Dillard on saxophones and Josh Evans on trumpet. Brandon was fourteen when he recorded this music.

This current release continues to celebrate the genius of Brandon Goldberg.  We are witnessing his super talent on piano, his awesome composition skills, and his continuing climb up the jazz ladder, towards the stars and beyond.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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