PAPATAMUS REDUX

CELLAR MUSIC 50123  (RECORDED JANUARY 2023)

I am not certain where it came from, but my father would always say, “Blessed is a time when the young listen to the old and the old listen to the young.” Pianist Brandon Goldberg’s latest release, Live at Dizzy’s, is a perfect example of what my father was talking about. Recorded a few days before his 17^th birthday, Goldberg demonstrates his admiration and understanding of his elders such as pianists Red Garland, Bill Evans and Oscar Peterson. Goldberg’s ballad skills are in full display on Harry Warren’s “An Affair to Remember” and his original “Circles.” He turns Burt Bacharach’s “Wives and Lovers” into a swinging jazz waltz. Henry Mancini’s “Slow Hot Wind” gets a Latin groove, and Miles Davis’ “Compulsion” is pure bebop. There is even a touch of Thelonius Monk in the Goldberg original “Unholy Water” that kicks off this set of nine tunes. Listening intently and reacting to Goldberg are the elders or not so elder — bassist Ben Wolfe (age 61) and drummer Aaron Kimmel (36).  As a true senior (age 72), I’m listening and enjoying this in-the-tradition session as well. The Aaron Goldberg trio may not be breaking any new ground on Live at Dizzy’s, but they continue to mine the treasures of Bluenote, Prestige, Riverside and other labels that set the standard for jazz in the 1950s and 1960s.

BOTTOM LINE:  Once again, Cellar Jazz delivers a strong release that demonstrates straight-ahead jazz is alive and well. Pianist Brandon Goldberg and his trio pay their respects to the jazz giants who came before them in a live session that, with the exception of two originals, covers familiar ground — George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Harry Warren and even Miles Davis — in a tasteful and memorable manner.