Ben Goldberg | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | August 8, 1959 Denver, Colorado, United States |
| Genres | Jazz, free jazz, klezmer |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Instrument | Clarinet |
| Labels | BAG Production |
| Website | bengoldberg |
Ben Goldberg (born August 8, 1959) is an American clarinet player and composer.
In the early 1990s, Ben Goldberg performed alongside electric bassist Dan Seamans and percussionist Kenny Wollesen as the New Klezmer Trio. [1] They went on to produce three albums and the free improvisation on "Masks and Faces" was described as having "kicked open the door for radical experiments with Ashkenazi roots music." Goldberg's musicality has influenced and inspired local musicians in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Goldberg is also the founder of the music label BAG Production. [2]
Recently Goldberg has branched out into songwriting. [3] His "Orphic Machine" project, largely commissioned by Chamber Music America, was performed in Los Angeles. [4] The song-cycle is based on the writings of Allen Grossman and, for one critic, "the piece's thoughtful, sprawling compositions course through such a variety of styles and open-ended impulses that it would be tempting to dub this a new kind of world music". [4] Regarding songwriting and composing, in a 2010 profile piece in All About Jazz, Goldberg said, "I don't just want to give people something that they can appreciate or understand, or that makes them think, or something like that. I used to kind of feel that that's what I wanted to do, but that's not what I want anymore. I want to give people something that they can love." [5]
In 2011, Goldberg was named the No. 1 Rising Star Clarinetist by the Down Beat Critic's Poll. [6]
With Nels Cline
With Kris Davis
With Allison Miller's Boom Tic Boom
With Jamie Saft
With Myra Melford
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Myra Melford is an American avant-garde jazz pianist and composer. A 2013 Guggenheim Fellow, Melford was described by the San Francisco Chronicle as an "explosive player, a virtuoso who shocks and soothes, and who can make the piano stand up and do things it doesn't seem to have been designed for."
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In Search of the Miraculous is an album by composer John Zorn released as a part of Tzadik's Archival series in 2010.
Baal: Book of Angels Volume 15 is an album by the Ben Goldberg Quartet performing compositions from John Zorn's second Masada book, "The Book of Angels".
Melt Zonk Rewire is the second album by the New Klezmer Trio, Ben Goldberg - clarinet, Dan Seamans - bass, and Kenny Wollesen - drums, which was released on the Tzadik label in 1995.
Masks and Faces is the debut album by the New Klezmer Trio, Ben Goldberg - clarinet, Dan Seamans - bass, and Kenny Wollesen - drums, which was originally released on the Nine Winds label in 1991 and re-released on the Tzadik label in 1996.
Short for Something is the third album by the New Klezmer Trio, Ben Goldberg - clarinet, Dan Seamans - bass, and Kenny Wollesen - drums, which was released on the Tzadik label in 2000.
Even the Sounds Shine is a live album by pianist Myra Melford's Extended Ensemble which was recorded in Germany in 1994 and released on the HatART label the following year.
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