Ben Goldberg

Clarinetist / Composer Ben Goldberg grew up in Denver, Colorado. He received his undergraduate music degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a Master of Arts in Composition from Mills College. He was a pupil of the eminent clarinetist Rosario Mazzeo, and studied with Steve Lacy and Joe Lovano.

In addition to composing for and playing in the Ben Goldberg Quintet, he currently performs in the following groups: Tin Hat; plays monk, a trio with Scott Amendola and Devin Hoff; Myra Melford’s Be Bread; Nels Cline’s New Monastery; and Go Home, a new quartet with Charlie Hunter, Ron Miles, and Scott Amendola.

The 11- piece Ben Goldberg's Brainchild performs Ben's on-the-spot compositions. Ben’s group New Klezmer Trio "kicked open the door for radical experiments with Ashkenazi roots music." (San Francisco Chronicle) Their CD Masks and Faces was listed as one of the ten best recordings of 1992 by Cadence magazine, which called it "great free improvisation." The group made two more cds, Melt Zonk Rewire and Short for Something (all on Tzadik).

Ben's other recordings include the door, the hat, the chair, the fact (Cryptogramophone), a record of compositions dedicated to Steve Lacy; The Sad Machinery of Spring (Rykodisc) with Tin Hat; Plays Monk (Long Song) with Amendola and Hoff; Nels Cline’s New Monastery: a view into the music of Andrew Hill (Cryptogramophone); Light at the Crossroads (Songlines) with Marty Ehrlich; two records by Junk Genius (with John Schott, Trevor Dunn, and Wollesen): Junk Genius (Knitting Factory Works), an examination of bebop, and Ghost of Electricity (Songlines), dealing with American folk music; and What Comes Before (Tzadik), reflections on post-tonal harmonic structures with John Schott and Michael Sarin.

Ben’s upcoming releases include a quintet recording of recent compositions featuring Joshua Redman and Ron Miles, and the initial record by the group Go Home. In 2007 Ben was awarded a grant from the Aaron Copland Fund for Music to produce the next recording by his quintet. Also in 2007 a commission from the de Young Museum of Art in San Francisco resulted in Line and Breath, a composition for quintet inspired by the work of Marsden Hartley.

In 1993 Ben received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to present a series featuring the work of important American composers, allowing him to work with Andrew Hill and Bobby Bradford in concerts of their compositions, as well as presenting the music of Steve Lacy, Herbie Nichols, and Thelonious Monk.

Geof Bradfield / Myra Melford / Ben Goldberg / Dana Hall: Open Or Close

Read "Open Or Close" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
September 5, 2026

Ornette Coleman may come to mind at the beginning of the spin of Open Or Close. This is understandable. The title song, which opens the set, is from Coleman's pen. Additionally, the jazz collective at work here--reedmen Geof Bradfield and Ben Goldberg, pianist Myra Melford and drummer Dana Hall play loose and free, à la Ornette, with a lot of seat-of-the-pants energy. The sound has a common thread strung out between Coleman's 1968 Blue Note Records album New York Is ...

Radio & Podcasts

Ben Goldberg, Dave Holland & Lily Finnegan

by Maurice Hogue
August 24, 2026

Two big projects are on the bill in this episode. Clarinetist Ben Goldberg's fascination with the number 8 (his birthday is August 8th and there are eight letters in his names) drives his new 8 X 8 Collection, eight albums created with different ensembles. You'll hear music from three of those new recordings. You'll also hear music from bassist Dave Holland's first box set, Freedom Call; it's out on Edition Records and features unreleased material from performances by his quartet, ...

Album Review

Carmen Staaf: Sounding Line

Read "Sounding Line" reviewed by Vic Albani

by Vic Albani
December 16, 2025

Carmen Staaf è una forza emergente della scena musicale di New York e, più in generale, del panorama jazz internazionale. Pianista originaria di Seattle--allieva di Danilo Perez--ha suonato e registrato con alcuni dei musicisti più influenti della nostra epoca. È stata ascoltata al Village Vanguard, al Blue Note, allo SFJAZZ e in numerosi festival di primo piano in tutto il mondo, tra cui Newport, Monterey, Montreux e il North Sea Jazz Festival, pur rimanendo per lungo tempo poco citata da ...

Album Review

Carmen Staaf: Sounding Line

Read "Sounding Line" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
October 22, 2025

Thelonious Monk (1917 -1982) was often grouped with the bebop pianists of the late 1940s and early 1950s. But he was not bop. He was a pianistic world unto itself. Quirky, dissonant, often playful. Mary Lou Williams (1910 -1981) did not fit the bop category either. She came in before bop's advent. Her music was stylistically closer to Duke Ellington's eloquence, sass and swing. Bop aside, pianist Carmen Staaf heard a musical kinship between these two 20th-century contemporaries. ...

Album Review

Samo Salamon Ra Kalam Bob Moses Orchestra: Dream Suites vol. 1

Read "Dream Suites vol. 1" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro

by Alberto Bazzurro
July 21, 2025

Basta scorrere i nomi dei musicisti coinvolti nell'operazione per capire di quale rappresentatività per una data scena della più creativa e verace attualità jazzistica “unga" questo assolutamente notevole album cofirmato dal chitarrista sloveno Samo Salamon e dal batterista newyorchese Bob Moses. Lo compongono tre soli ampi brani (dai tredici minuti alla mezz'ora appena scarsa) incisi nel novembre 2023 e fondati sulla pratica della libera improvvisazione (non si parla neppure di conduction, in questo caso), raggiungendo una dimensione formale assolutamente invidiabile, ...

Radio & Podcasts

Ben Goldberg, Anna Webber, and Sarah Hanahan

by Jerome Wilson
January 29, 2025

This show features 2024 music from Ben Goldberg, Anna Webber, and Sarah Hanahan as well as older music from Helen Merrill and Lee Morgan. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Charles Tolliver Music Inc. “Impact" from Live at the Captain's Cabin (Reel to Real) 1:19 Bill Charlap Trio “Sometimes I'm Happy" from And Then Again (Blue Note) 7:54 Host ...

Album Review

Ben Goldberg / Todd Sickafoose / Scott Amendola: Here to There

Read "Here to There" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
December 7, 2024

There was a very good reason that James Brown would shout “take me to the bridge." In an interview, he explained: “I heard someone use that expression maybe 45 years ago, referring to the middle part of a song, and I changed it to mean a release." Clarinetist Ben Goldberg, bassist Todd Sickafoose and drummer Scott Amendola utilize that same release with an exploration of the bridges from Thelonious Monk's compositions. Goldberg and Amendola have explored Monk's music ...

Recording

Ben Goldberg Quintet - The Door, the Hat, the Chair, the Fact (2006)

Source: Something Else!
October 17, 2011

By Mark Saleski Too bad that the clarinet was the instrument guys were embarrassed to be stuck with in band. None of those kids ever got to hear what musicians like Steve Lacy (yes, I know, soprano sax. Close enough), Don Byron or Ben Goldberg could do with it. Goldberg, a member of the group Tin Hat (formerly the Tin Hat Trio, they of off-kilter chamberisms and surprising Tom Waits guest vocals), brings Tin Hat violinist Carla Kihlstedt together with ...
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135

Interview

Clarinetist Ben Goldberg Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
March 30, 2010

The diversity of clarinetist Ben Goldberg's musical interests may only be matched by the intensity of his study. He grew up on The Beatles and classic jazz, started playing Klezmer music at the University of California, Berkeley in the early '80s, and studied with renowned classical clarinet teacher Rossario Mazzeo. In 1984, he became the clarinetist for The Klezmorim, touring throughout the U.S. and Europe, where he also met and learned from the legendary soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy. In 1987, ...
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171

Recording

Ben Goldberg Announces Release of Go Home CD on New Label

Source: Michael Ricci
November 10, 2009

Debut CD by Go Home Ben Goldberg - Charlie Hunter - Scott Amendola - Ron Miles BAG Production BAG 001 “The band creates music that is cozy and spacious, pungent and perfumed, virtuosic, sophisticated and pleasingly raw." -- The Boston Globe “A searching ensemble that welcomes lyrical improvisation while embracing the groove." --The New Yorker “Go Home speaks to a fascinating creative journey that has taken Goldberg from the esoteric realms of the avant-garde to the simple pleasures of syncopation ...
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224

Performance / Tour

Go Home: With Ben Goldberg and Charlie Hunter @ Chris' Jazz Cafe

Source: All About Jazz
October 9, 2009

GO HOME brings together a unique group of players. Performing Goldberg's unique compositions finds Charlie Hunter and Scott Amendola's rootsy, hard-driving grooves and the astute, lyrical interplay of Curtis Fowlkes and Goldberg. Spacious melody and an incisive feel combine to create a unique and compelling sound. The musical results are documented on the CD, GO HOME, available in October, 2009.

GO HOME Ben Goldberg - clarinet Charlie Hunter - seven string guitar Curtis Fowlkes ...
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320

Performance / Tour

Go Home: Ben Goldberg, Charlie Hunter, Scott Amendola, Curtis Fowlkes October Northeast Tour

Source: Marshall Lamm Promotions & Public Relations
October 5, 2009

GO HOME Northeast Tour Ben Goldberg - clarinet Charlie Hunter - seven string guitar Curtis Fowlkes - trombone Scott Amendola - drums GO HOME brings together a unique group of players. Performing Goldberg's unique compositions finds Charlie Hunter and Scott Amendola's rootsy, hard-driving grooves and the astute, lyrical interplay of Curtis Fowlkes and Goldberg. Spacious melody and an incisive feel combine to create a unique and compelling sound. ...
read more