Jazz Festival Workshop with Brandon Goldberg
Brandon Goldberg
Brandon Goldberg, 15 years old, has been playing piano and making music since he was three years old. He found his passion for jazz by listening to his favorite artists including Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane.
Brandon has performed at the Newport Jazz Festival, Litchfield Jazz Festival, Bravo Niagara Festival of the Arts, as well as some of the most prestigious jazz venues including Jazz at Lincoln Center, Dizzy’s Club, Birdland Theatre, The Blue Note, Mezzrow, The Apollo Theater, The Side Door in Old Lyme, Keystone Korner in Baltimore and the FAENA Theater in Miami,Florida.
Brandon recently finished recording his second album with legendary drummer Ralph Peterson, Jr., saxophonist Stacy Dillard, trumpet player Josh Evans and the great Luques Curtis on bass. This album, featuring mostly original music by Brandon, will be released later this year.
Brandon’s debut album, “LET’S PLAY!” was released in April 2019 to rave reviews garnering four stars from Downbeat Magazine and reaching number seven on the Jazz Week charts. “LET’S PLAY!” features veteran musicians Ben Wolfe on bass, Donald Edwards on drums and special guest Marcus Strickland on tenor saxophone. The album has three original compositions and six standards and is imbued with a pure love and joy for the music.
Downbeat Magazine recognized Brandon as the Student Music Awards winner in the Jazz Soloist and Original Composition categories three years in a row (2018, 2019 and 2020). In 2020, Brandon also won the Jazz Arrangement category for his arrangement of “Blackbird”.
Brandon had some break-through moments at a young age when he appeared on National television in Season 1 and Season 2 of NBC’s Little Big Shots, The Steve Harvey Show and the Harry Connick, Jr. Show.
In his home town of Miami, FL, Brandon has been a featured performer with The Miami Symphony Orchestra (MISO) and the Jazz Roots Series at the Adrienne Arsht Center for Performing Arts under the direction of Shelly Berg. Brandon has been part of the Fine Arts Concert Series at WDNA Radio and has performed at the WDNA Miami Downtown Jazz Festival and the FAENA Summer Jazz Series.
Brandon works closely with the Jazz Foundation of America (JFA) and performed at the JFA annual Gala – A Great Night in Harlem at the famous Apollo Theater in New York, where he presented McCoy Tyner with his Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.
Recent Press Quotes and/or Reviews:
“…he’s got not only the chops, but an inspiring sense of restraint and style in both playing and composing on this album…” — George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly, June 27, 2019
“Pianist Brandon Goldberg — a fresh new face in the literal and figurative sense — made a nice push into the Top 10 with his new album Let’s Play, on which the abundantly skilled young keyboardist showcases his ample dexterity and wise-beyond-his-years sound.” – Brian Zimmerman, JAZZIZ, June 2019
“Let’s Play!” introduces the listener to a gifted pianist and composer, a sensitive interpreter, and an inventive improviser who is deeply immersed in jazz. – Lucy Tauss, JazzTimes, July/August 2019
“He understands the basics and nuances of making jazz – and swings like mad in the great company of his trio mates” – Ken Franckling, April 2019
“ ‘McCoy’…sizzles with Tyner-like speed, flair and intricacy. Even more impressive is his take on Thelonious Monk’s “Well, You Needn’t,” which under Goldberg’s adroit and nimble fingers evokes Bud Powell. It’s this kind of maturity and proficiency that pervades ‘Let’s Play!’…” — Downbeat,
Herb Boyd, August 2019
“…the young man with his name at the top of the bill here no more needs to flaunt his instrumental technique than his composing chops: a preponderance of standards like Duke Ellington’s “In A Sentimental Mood” and Lennon/McCartney’s “Blackbird” surround three comparably distinct originals.” – Doug Collette, All About Jazz, May 2019
“He is a player who follows his own muse opening with Monk’s “Well You Needn’t,” where he perhaps plays less angularly and with more fluidity than usual. He hints at the melody more than stating it but impresses with his imagination and the logic of his solo…It is engrossing to see how Brandon constructs and develops a solo showing a musical maturity well beyond his age.”
– Ron Weinstock, June 2019
Clinic Featuring Brandon Goldberg