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Ned Goold

Charles Ned Goold is as distinctive an inside-outside tenor player as there is, and he should be a household name given the luck he's had with employment.

Besides fronting his own trio on several CDs, he has been a mainstay of Harry Connick Jr.'s bands since the early '90s. Goold's unique tone combines something of the cool, sharp delivery of Bird and Charlie Rouse with the breathy insistence of Lester Young and subtle phraseology of Dizzy Gillespie.

His modern system of harmonic improvisation (based on 20th century serial concepts) brings the swing approach into the new century. Ned Goold is perhaps best known as a member of Harry Connick, Jr.'s backing band, but he has also performed with artists like Ben Wolfe, Brother Jack McDuff and the legendary Haitian group, Tabou Combo. In the early '80s, Goold got his start as a session saxophonist, playing paying gigs at night while studying his craft during the day. By 1990, his solo improvisation skills were well known enough for Harry Connick, Jr. to invite Goold into his band, and an additional gig with Connick's bassist Ben Wolfe followed shortly after.

In addition to his work on Connick's records and the showcase album Jazz Underground: Live At Smalls, Goold has released four solo albums, 1998's Goold and the following year's Entropy. He has since recorded and released two acclaimed CD's on Smalls records: The Flows and March of the Malcontents.

Awards

The Doris Duke Grant from Chamber Music America

Ned Goold Quartet: March of the Malcontents

Read "March of the Malcontents" reviewed by J Hunter

by J Hunter
July 8, 2007

Mitch Borden--the leading light behind New York's aptly-named Smalls jazz club--has a pretty cool policy: On weekend nights before the main show begins, he gives stage time to bands that he believes deserve more exposure. Borden also personally works the sidewalk outside the West 10th Street establishment, urging passersby to come in and give these groups a listen. One band that's been given the extra time is the Ned Goold Quartet. Borden has an obvious affection for the tenor saxophonist's ...

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Album Review

Ned Goold: Reverse Engineer

Read "Reverse Engineer" reviewed by Tom Greenland

by Tom Greenland
April 12, 2007

Tenor saxophonist Ned Goold's tap runs hot and cool, combining hard bop fire with laid-back, left-coast tonguing and tone. His new release on Smalls Records, March of the Malcontents, is his second for the label and fourth overall as a leader. Unlike his earlier offerings, all pianoless trios á la Sonny Rollins' A Night at the Village Vanguard or Joe Henderson's The State of the Tenor, March features the fluid fingers of pianist Sacha Perry, along with a rhythm team ...

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Album Review

Ned Goold: March of the Malcontents

Read "March of the Malcontents" reviewed by Jim Santella

by Jim Santella
February 9, 2007

Ned Goold communicates easily with his audience. Maybe it's the experience that he's gained while coming up as a key member of the Harry Connick, Jr. Big Band. Or maybe it's just the pleasant opportunities that he's had in New York, enjoying mainstream trio and quartet work for audiences that truly appreciate straight-ahead jazz and its traditional framework. Theme and variations, solos around the room, head-bobbing rhythms that carry the day, and plenty to say from the leader and his ...

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Album Review

Ned Goold Trio: The Flows

Read "The Flows" reviewed by Todd R. Brown

by Todd R. Brown
December 3, 2004

Charles “Ned" Goold is as distinctive an inside-outside tenor player as there is, and he should be a household name given the luck he's had with employment. Besides fronting his own trio on several CDs, he has been a mainstay of Harry Connick Jr.'s bands since the early '90s. Goold's unique tone combines something of the cool, sharp delivery of Sonny Rollins and Archie Shepp with the breathy insistence of Ben Webster and subtle phraseology of Gerry Mulligan.

That sound ...

106

Album Review

Ned Goold Trio: The Flows

Read "The Flows" reviewed by Michael P. Gladstone

by Michael P. Gladstone
April 20, 2004

Although tenor saxman Ned Goold has recorded two albums in the past few years, The Flows is a major breakthrough as far as I'm concerned. The scenario of a piano-less trio (tenor sax-bass-drums) is a daunting format in which the “rubber meets the road" with no margin for error. Goold is a musician who I've only heard playing obbligattos behind Harry Connick, Jr. in the recent past. Here, he takes the gauntlet of this challenging format and succeeds admirably.