Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz
Ben Goldberg - Liner Notes, Composer, Production Engineer, Clarinet, Producer
Cookie Marenco Engineer, Mixing
Fran�ois Bienvenue Graphic Design, Artwork
Joanne V�zina Assistant Producer
John Schott Guitar
Larry Ochs Sax (Tenor), Sax (Soprano)
Lisle Ellis Double Bass
Maggi Payne Editing, Digital Transfers, Transfers, Montage
Michael Sarin Drums
Michel Levasseur Assistant Producer, Producer
Steve Rubin Photography
Trevor Dunn Contrabass, Bass
Recorded in studio in November 1996, Ben Goldberg's project Eight Phrases for Jefferson Rubin was his second composition for sextet (after Twelve Minor, released by Avant in 1998). Rubin, who died tragically at the age of 35, was one of Goldberg's childhood friends. Thus the music is not always cheerful, but it doesn't fall into mournful soliloquies either. The sextet the clarinetist gathered comprises a second reed player (Rova saxophonist Larry Ochs), guitar (John Schott), two double basses (Lisle Ellis and the ubiquitous jazzing-when-not-rocking Trevor Dunn), and drums (Michael Sarin). Eight Phrases for Jefferson Rubin follows the klezmer-tinged avant-garde jazz style prominent in New York at the end of 1990s. Comparisons to John Zorn's Masada, Marty Ehrlich, and West Coast new jazz are all in order, since there is something of Vinny Golia's touch here too. "Problem" sets the mood -- free-form in the underground, carefully written melodies above. "Plain of Jars" is a slow, depressive piece lacking a clear direction and makes for the worst ten minutes of the set, but "Visited" picks up the pace and features a good solo courtesy of Schott. The title track is the real showcase for Goldberg, his bass clarinet hinting at Jewish mourning songs. Not a groundbreaking album, but an honest and enjoyable effort. ~ Fran�ois Couture, All Music Guide
Ben Goldberg
Active Decades: '90s and '00s
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Post-Bop, Klezmer, Progressive Jazz, Avant-Garde Jazz
Clarinetist Ben Goldberg was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, later earning an undergraduate music degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a subsequent Master of Arts in Composition from Mills College. A student of Rosario Mazzeo, Steve Lacy and Joe Lovano, Goldberg initially won acclaim as a member of the New Klezmer Trio, debuting in 1991 with Masks and Faces; two years later he won a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to mount a retrospective series spotlighting the music of key American jazz composers including Thelonious Monk and Herbie Nichols, a project on which he collaborated with the likes of Andrew Hill and Bobby Bradford. After teaming with Kenny Wollesen for the 1993 LP The Relative Value of Things, Goldberg resurfaced two years later with another New Klezmer Trio record, Melt Zonk Rewire; with the group Snorkel, he also contributed to 1996's Live at the Elbo Room. In 1998, Goldberg headlined no less than four new recordings -- Eight Phrases for Jefferson Rubin, Twelve Minor, Here by Now and What Comes Before.
---Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide |
