Aaron Goldberg Returns with "Worlds" May 9th on Sunnyside

Pianist Aaron Goldberg makes his entrance into the jazz vanguard with his Sunnyside debut, Worlds. The album features his impeccable working trio made up of bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Eric Harland, joined on two tracks by special guests guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel and vocalist Luciana Souza. Given the range of Goldberg's gifts--flawless technique, a deft touch, singing solos and a creative mind--and his diverse compositional palette, the title of this project is apt. In his own words: “It's an attempt to regard song from a globalist perspective, yet to approach other cultures with a creative NYC sensibility."

Worlds aurally illustrates Goldberg's intimate knowledge of the entire jazz continuum. But it is the sensitivity and dynamism of his longstanding trio that takes center stage. “This CD captures the empathy of this trio--subtle atmospheres and romps all share a similar personal spirit which developed organically over years of working together," Goldberg says. “Reuben and Eric are the premier young artists on their respective instruments, and we have a deep musical and personal bond stretching back a decade."

With this recording, Goldberg, Rogers and Harland stake their claim to being the next great trio in jazz. Their subtle interplay and emotive power are on display throughout the album, beginning with the first delicate bars of “Lambada de Serpente," composed by the beloved Brazilian composer and singer Djavan. The original pieces are treated just as reverently, including the exotic, Sahara-syncopated “Oud to Omer," the hypersonic “OAM's Blues," and the twilight-toned “Kianda's Song," infused with floating wordless vocals by Luciana Souza. “Unstablemates" is Goldberg's intricate and updated shout-out to tenor saxophonist Benny Golson's hard-bop standard, “Stablemates." “Benny Golson is a beautiful person, and I've had the good fortune to spend some moments conversing with him and his wife, who have had an inspired partnership for many years now," Goldberg says. “Benny wrote that classic song as a testament to their relationship...I've never tired of playing it, but with one dear friend in mind I decided to rework his tune a bit to make it more relevant to my personal life."

Goldberg has an obvious affinity for Brazilian music. In addition to Djavan's masterwork, the album includes a chamber reading of “Inutil Paisagem" with Rogers on electric-acoustic bass, and a moving interpretation of “Modinha," both penned by the immortal Antonio Carlos Jobim. “I began spending a lot of time in Brazil around 2000 and my love for Brazilian music began to grow exponentially," Goldberg notes. “In the sense that I am only one degree of separation from many of my jazz heroes (such as Miles Davis) by virtue of my musical associations within the big jazz family, I am similarly just a degree away from Djavan or Jobim...their music is personal for me, and of course their gift for songwriting speaks for itself."

For the Boston-born, New York-based Goldberg, Worlds is an encyclopedic circumnavigation of his ever-evolving musicality, which began with piano lessons at the age of seven. In high school Goldberg got hooked on jazz by Bob Sinicrope of Milton Academy and was pushed onward by 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, Goldberg 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, Goldberg 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. Goldberg 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.

Goldberg 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 Goldberg has been touring and recording with young guitar guru Kurt Rosenwinkel. In 2005 he spent 6 months performing with Wynton Marsalis in his quartet as well as with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Goldberg's long and impressive list of recorded credits includes work with a diverse spectrum of artists ranging from Guillermo Klein to Terry Gibbs/Buddy DeFranco, as well as with the next generation of up-and-coming leaders such as John Ellis, Jimmy Greene and Eli Degibri. In 2004, Goldberg produced and performed in Jazz for America's Future, a fundraising concert for John Kerry's presidential campaign that also featured Savion Glover, Brad Mehldau, Michael Brecker, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Christian McBride and others. He is currently the musical director of All Souls at Sundown, a jazz and poetry series at Manhattan's All Souls Church. His first recording as a leader, Turning Point, was released on the J Curve imprint in 1999, followed by Unfolding in 2002. He's also a member of the OAM Trio, which recorded Trilingual (1999) and Flow (2002) for the Fresh Sound/New Talent label, as well as two collaborations with saxophonist Mark Turner: an upcoming studio project and the acclaimed Live in Sevilla (2003) on Lola Records.

Worlds triumphs on many levels. Not only does it display Goldberg's profound musicianship and his global conception of jazz, but makes a compelling case for the aesthetic power of the many over the one - the trio emerges harmonious “over" the soloist. As an artist Goldberg has adopted the global and made it personal; he recognizes the harmony between national and international, past and future, history and progress. With an eye always tuned to his sociopolitical environment, he seems compelled to embrace great music whatever its source. Goldberg makes this move into the spotlight in hopes that his trio will have an increasing impact not limited to the jazz world. “Jazz, a language like any other, is open to Creole forms - indeed like America it was born to mixed parents," he says. “Yet this album is no fusion, except perhaps of minds. Rather it attempts to prove that song is cross-cultural currency. All music is social, emerging out of a womb of trust, empathy, and a common goal. Our world is now many ... may we also be one."