Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Ben Goldberg: Go Home

132

Ben Goldberg: Go Home

By

View read count
Ben Goldberg: Go Home
This disc rocks, which is not something normally said about sets led by a clarinetist. But it doesn't begin that way. The sound of Go Home, from clarinetist/composer Ben Goldberg, croons to life with a smooth and creamy licorice stick/cornet unison interlude on "TGO," with the dark wood-wielding leader joined by brass man Ron Miles for a duo introduction. Then, thirty seconds in, the crunch and slam rock element rears its head, pushed to the surface by 7-String guitar ace Charlie Hunter and drummer Scott Amendola. With the rhythm team on board, Goldberg takes a snaky, writhing solo that wouldn't sound out of place on a Benny Goodman set, except for the mid-tempo, Neil Young trudge of the bass/guitar "team."

"Wasee" marches ahead with a deep groove and rock-solid determination, sounding like a Klezmer/jazz/garage-rock hybrid. Hunter stings and crackles on his solo; Amendola lays down a heavy, metronomic dance beat; and Goldberg and Miles weave elastic lines around each other.

Four of the ten Goldberg originals were recorded live. The nine-minute "Root and Branch" has a loose and spontaneous feeling during Goldberg's extended solo in front of a crunchy, restrained rhythm. The leader gives way to Miles, who blows with a relaxed eloquence, leading into Hunter's prickly, jagged, razor-sharp lines, which resonate off the garage walls and snap around Amendola's muscular percussion.

The appeal of Go Home is due, in large part, to the smooth old world atmosphere of the clarinet and trumpet, underlain by the slightly ragged, sometimes grungy rock moods laid down by Hunter and Amendola—a traditional approach mixing it up with a forward-leaning raw energy that results in a lively and sometimes tempestuous marriage.

Track Listing

TGO; Wazee; Lace; Root and Branch; Head and Tails; Ethan's Song; Inevitable; Isosceles; Reparation; Papermaker.

Personnel

Ben Goldberg
clarinet

Ben Goldberg: clarinet; Charlie Hunter: 7-string guitar; Scott Amendola: drums; Ron Miles: cornet and G trumpet.

Album information

Title: Go Home | Year Released: 2010 | Record Label: BAG Production

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.