Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Larry Goldings Trio: Moonbird

195

Larry Goldings Trio: Moonbird

By

View read count
Larry Goldings Trio: Moonbird
One of the most consistently satisfying straight-ahead jazz outfits, the Larry Goldings Trio joins the Palmetto Records roster with the fine Moonbird. Goldings has made his mark on the Hammond organ as a sideman with the likes of John Scofield, Jim Hall, Chris Potter, and Maceo Parker. His long-standing trio, with Peter Bernstein on guitar and Bill Stewart on drums, can be seen and heard nearly every week at Small’s in New York. Moonbird is representative of the group’s intimate-yet-fiery live sound. It’s some of Goldings’s strongest and most focused work to date.

The disc features a variety of feels and moods, from the bayou rhythm of "Crawdaddy" to the contemplative dissonance of "Empty Oceans." Three mid-tempo numbers, "Moonbird," "Christine," and "Comfort Zone," come closest to what I would call this trio’s signature sound—a breezy and lyrical yet aggressive swing. Listen as Bernstein attacks the melody at the bridge on the lovely title track. This is a pure and sublime hard bop moment, and the trio knows just how to milk it for all it’s worth. "Xoloft" is another hard bop highlight with a quicker tempo. Bernstein is riveting as he darts from high to low register yet never loses sight of the next perfect phrase. And Stewart’s unaccompanied solo is characteristically shrewd.

Two pop covers appear. I’ve never been a fan of the pop/rock cover trend in jazz, and Goldings has certainly shown lapses in this regard in the past—take the Sanborn-scarred "Boogie On Reggae Woman" from his 1995 Warner Brothers release Whatever It Takes. Here, however, his reading of Joni Mitchell’s "Woodstock" as a slow straight-eighth jam genuinely works, as does his gospel-tinged rendering of Randy Newman’s "I Think It’s Going to Rain Today."

The record closes with a hidden track—a reprise of "Empty Oceans," but this time with Goldings extemporizing beautifully over the theme on acoustic piano. Perhaps because we’re used to the thick, heavy sound of the organ, Goldings’s piano playing sounds uncommonly fluid and free. A pretty end to an exceptionally pretty album.

Cyberhome: www.palmetto-records.com

Personnel

Larry Goldings
organ, Hammond B3

Album information

Title: Moonbird | Year Released: 1999 | Record Label: Palmetto Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT



Larry Goldings Concerts


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.