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Brandon Goldberg: In Good Time

By Mike Jurkovic
October 21, 2021
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Pianist

Brandon Goldberg

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Brandon Goldberg may not have the seasoned years behind him yet, (In Good Time finds him brewing with ideas most fifteen-year-olds never tackle) but it is no more a beloved veteran than the late

Ralph Peterson

drums
1962 - 2021

" data-original-title="" title="">Ralph Peterson who, via a wisely archived voice mail, urges the young man "What's up Brandon, gimme a shout man we hook up later this week!" The drummer and cat supreme then wishes him "Peace" and a split second later the barnstorming, deftly pugilistic "Authority" kicks off Goldberg's emergent sophomore release.

It is a no-nonsense, full-on opener which finds Peterson and Goldberg squaring off and bolstering the springy unison lines of trumpeter

Josh Evans

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Josh Evans and saxophonist

Stacy Dillard

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Stacy Dillard before they too sail off headlong into solo land. The seemingly ever-present bass of

Luques Curtis

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">Luques Curtis—whose balancing tones can be heard on such fine recent releases as

Lisa Hilton

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Lisa Hilton's Transparent Sky (Ruby Slippers Productions, 2021) and Peterson's affirmative, final recording as a leader, Raise Up Off Me (Onyx Productions, 2021)—holds the fort and In Good Time moves blithely on from there.

Though definitely in a quintet state of mind, "Circles" becomes a stately, sepia-tinted meditation between Goldberg (whose ear for lyrical accompaniment again surpasses his age) and Dillard's fluid logistics. Peterson's controlled shadings and Evans' poignant announcement nearly steal "Time" but, vets that they are, the two give way to Goldberg's intuitive comping, before Evans (echoing his mentor

Jackie McLean

saxophone, alto
1932 - 2006

" data-original-title="" title="">Jackie McLean) blows the tune to its conclusion. The ensemble then vigorously take on

Wayne Shorter

saxophone
1933 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Wayne Shorter's languid "Nefertiti" and jump particularly high on, what else,

Thelonious Monk

piano
1917 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Thelonious Monk's heightened "Monk's Dream."

A perhaps too somber "Send In the Clowns" (with guest trumpeter

Antoine Drye

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Antoine Drye) closes the record, but it is the preceding two of Goldberg's five originals, the tempo crazy "El Procrastinador" and the snappy, spirited hijinks of "Ninety-Six" that continue Goldberg's evolution. Filled and fired by the pianist's wizened yet youthful enthusiasm, Dillard, Curtis, and Evans run the bop gamut on "Ninety-Six" while Peterson holds "El Procrastinator" to its 7/4 course, but burns the map along the way. That is how you teach the next generation.

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Track Listing

Authority; Circles; Time; Nefertiti; Monk's Dream; Stella By Starlight; El Procrastinador; Someone To watch Over Me; Ninety-Six; Send In the Clowns (With Antoine Drye)

Personnel

Brandon Goldberg

piano

Josh Evans

trumpet

Stacy Dillard

saxophone

Luques Curtis

bass, acoustic

Ralph Peterson

drums

Antione Drye

trumpet

Album information

Title: In Good Time | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: Self Produced

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