Jeff Goldblum’s feel-good jazz

Known for his quirky on-screen persona, Jeff Goldblum has brought to life some of the most iconic characters in cinema since the 1970s. Now, at 66, he is passionately exploring another of his talents with the release of his debut album The Capitol Studios Sessions on Decca Records.

Jeff Goldblum is known for roles in Hollywood blockbusters, a singular, chin-stroking comic persona and, more recently, as a fashion icon, but if he hadn’t explored his love for acting, he probably would have pursued a career as a jazz pianist. ‘I’m from Pittsburgh, and I played the piano when I was a kid,’ says Goldblum. ‘I got the idea to play out and about in cocktail lounges when I was, like, 15, and got a job or two.

‘These days, and for many years, I just hardly spend a day where I don’t pass a piano in my place and just play for as long as I can,’ he says.

Goldblum has been playing semi-regularly since the 1990s with a band he formed, The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra (named after a family friend back in Pittsburgh). And, in more recent years, Goldblum and The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra have played a weekly residency in Los Angeles at The Rockwell Table and Stage – when he isn’t busy filming. Frequented by locals and A-listers alike, the weekly show intersperses Goldblum’s love of jazz with his passion and skills at improvised comedy.

The Capitol Studios Sessions, then, is long overdue and captures Goldblum and his band in their natural habitat – performing live. The atmosphere and energy of these shows is captured perfectly on this album, which Goldblum credits to producer Larry Klein (known for his work with Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock and Madeleine Peyroux). For the recording, Klein recreated the buzz of The Rockwell at the legendary Capitol Studios. The studio was transformed into a jazz club – food and drink were served to an invited live studio audience of Rockwell regulars, friends and family.

This album lives in that magical area where artists and audiences meet. There is a joyful sense of anything-can happen and a spirit of creative generosity in how Goldblum speaks to his fans, how he accompanies guest singers and soloists, and especially in how Goldblum comps. To Goldblum, his role within the context of a jazz band is a seamless connection with his acting:

‘I love improvising and that feeling of communication and interplay. It’s one of the cornerstones of my acting technique. I see my music in the same way.’

The Capitol Studios Sessions is the realisation of this idea: jazz standards presented in a manner that dares to be high-spirited and to make you feel good. The repertoire includes favourite ‘60s jazz numbers ‘Cantaloupe Island’ and ‘I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel To Be Free)’, the 1940s classic ‘Straighten Up & Fly Right’, with guest vocals from Irish superstar singer and songwriter Imelda May, ‘My Baby Just Cares For Me’ from the 1930s, featuring American songstress Haley Reinhart, and the 1920s song ‘Me And My Shadow’ sung by US comedian and actress, Sarah Silverman. The band is joined by the extraordinary GRAMMY-nominated trumpeter Till Brönner.

Some of the best moments on the album come on the instrumentals that feature Brönner. ‘Don’t Mess With Mister T’ is a moody retelling of Marvin Gaye’s classic, while their take on Rodgers and Hart’s ‘It Never Entered My Mind’ really lets Goldblum’s piano skills shine. Their best collaboration comes on Duke Ellington’s ‘Caravan’, which is a loose reinterpretation of the piece that’s sure to impress even the most hardcore of jazz fans.

Jeff Goldblum and The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra deliver the feel and the swing, and they make it fun, funny, and familiar. Those are words not often associated with jazz, though they still can be, and with this album, we are reminded of that.

‘It’s thrilling,’ says Goldblum. ‘I’m just delighted and surprised by it. It kind of just happened, not for any strategy or any dream of mine over the years. We played at first under the radar and kind of evolved organically, out of the pure enjoyment of it and the pleasure of playing. It became this other thing and now it’s developed into this, which feels just terrific.’