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

263

Ben Goldberg: Go Home

Ben Goldberg: Go Home
A comfortable familiarity permeates Go Home, the latest project from veteran clarinetist Ben Goldberg and the first offering from his Bag Production Records. Culled from both studio and live cuts, these feel-good romps suggest the intimacy of a jam session. He enlists longtime collaborators Charlie Hunter on seven-string guitar, Ron Miles on trumpet and cornet and Scott Amendola on drums, and their easy rapport fosters the music's success.

Trafficking in meaty mid- and slow-cooking tempos, the group is never in a rush. Brass and reed introduce "TGO"; entering by turns, Hunter and Amendola patiently build a beat under Goldberg's first flight, the guitarist comping and providing the bass line in his inimitable style. He locks in with Amendola to create a driving pulse for the catchy unison horns of "Wazee" and is the featured soloist, before Goldberg and Miles trade spirited phrases. On "Root and Branch," a live track, Goldberg unleashes a steady flow of ideas with high-note punctuations amid swirling lines, which Miles counters with stately suspended tones. Sometimes complementary, sometimes contrasting, the two engage effectively.

"Ethan's Song" begins atmospheric and sparse, until the horns unfurl a sprightly line, inducing another funky Amendola groove. It propels a twangy Hunter run wrapped around his slick bass flourish, with the horns eventually embarking on a street-band-like exchange. The minimal theme of "Isosceles" leaves copious room for improvisation and Miles crafts a tuneful story with dynamic range, embellished by Amendola's dramatic flurries. The formal unison horn introduction of "Reparation" features bright notes and a chamber-esque tone, with Goldberg and then Miles taking lyrical solos. It abruptly changes when the drums and guitar rock a pulsing backbeat and quicker pace, eliciting another round of horn sparring.

The relaxed and unpretentious vibe of Go Home is an inviting and auspicious start for Goldberg's newest venture.

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.

Near

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.