Conceptually, Not Knowing What the Future Holds is a meditation on the mad reality of our times — on the sense of lost meaning. Our world today presses in on all of us — relentless, insistent — disturbing the artist’s inner harmony — always bare and therefore especially vulnerable — until, perhaps, a flash of insight or clarity bursts into the light.
—Gregory Golub
Jazz pianist and composer Gregory Golub unveils his latest work, Not Knowing What the Future Holds—a new solo jazz piece with an unusual format, captured live and released both as an audio single and a concert video.
The live recording was captured in a single take, highlighting the spontaneity and conversational spirit of improvisation. (A separate studio take was also recorded, equally spontaneous in its own way.)
The composition is built so that Golub manages to play both acoustic piano and synth bass nearly at the same time, all without overdubs—and he truly pulls it off. Everything begins with an electronic introduction—a nervous surge that gradually draws the listener into the piece’s atmosphere. The music unfolds as a dialogue between two voices—sometimes asking, sometimes answering their own questions: the grounded tone of the bass, and the expressive phrasing of the piano, each in its own way developing the idea of the explosive instability of our world and reminding us how uncertain and fragile the present can turn out to be.
Conceptually, Not Knowing What the Future Holds is a meditation on the mad reality of our time—on the sense of lost meaning. Our world today presses in on all of us—relentless, insistent—disturbing the artist’s inner harmony—always bare and therefore especially vulnerable—until, perhaps, a flash of insight or clarity bursts into the light.
For Golub, improvisation is always a kind of conversation—sometimes a little cheeky, always searching, but above all, alive and honest. In this music, piano and bass find common ground, speaking to us all without words. And maybe, that’s what jazz is really about.
The live video version is available on YouTube, alongside the audio release on all major streaming platforms.
Release date: June 19, 2025
The live recording was captured in a single take, highlighting the spontaneity and conversational spirit of improvisation. (A separate studio take was also recorded, equally spontaneous in its own way.)
The composition is built so that Golub manages to play both acoustic piano and synth bass nearly at the same time, all without overdubs—and he truly pulls it off. Everything begins with an electronic introduction—a nervous surge that gradually draws the listener into the piece’s atmosphere. The music unfolds as a dialogue between two voices—sometimes asking, sometimes answering their own questions: the grounded tone of the bass, and the expressive phrasing of the piano, each in its own way developing the idea of the explosive instability of our world and reminding us how uncertain and fragile the present can turn out to be.
Conceptually, Not Knowing What the Future Holds is a meditation on the mad reality of our time—on the sense of lost meaning. Our world today presses in on all of us—relentless, insistent—disturbing the artist’s inner harmony—always bare and therefore especially vulnerable—until, perhaps, a flash of insight or clarity bursts into the light.
For Golub, improvisation is always a kind of conversation—sometimes a little cheeky, always searching, but above all, alive and honest. In this music, piano and bass find common ground, speaking to us all without words. And maybe, that’s what jazz is really about.
The live video version is available on YouTube, alongside the audio release on all major streaming platforms.
Release date: June 19, 2025
