DOWNBEAT
Date: August 2006

3 - stars

"This album attempts to prove that song is cross-cultural currency" writes Aaron Goldberg in the liner notes to Worlds, an interactive trio recording made in 2003 on which the pianist, then 29, navigates the various stylistic tributaries that comprise the 21st century mainstream with authority and elegance.

Applying his own point of view to piano vocabularies that range from Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell to Mulgrew Miller and Brad Mehldau, Goldberg works hand-in-glove with Reuben Rogers and Eric Harland, his bass­drum team of choice for the last decade, displaying quick-witted harmonic reflexes, fluid command of line and a cut-to-the-chase sense of narrative logic. They cover three melody-rich Brazilian songbook numbers (Djavan's "Lambada De Serpente" and Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Modinha" and "Inutil Paisagem"), several metrically shifting originals ("Taurus," "Salvador"), a cubistically reimagined jazz standard ("Unstablemates") and a darting, warp-tempo blues ("OAM's Blues").

The musical conversation culminates on "Oud to Omer", constructed upon a North African scalar motif and Harland's delicate hand-struck drum set rhythms. After Harland transitions to sticks, Goldberg follows Kurt Rosenwinkel's bravura declamation with a rhythmically disjunctive, keep-cool-in-the-maelstrom tension-and-release meditation that evolves into a white-heat contrapuntal dialogue with the guitarist. This is a satisfying session. ­Ted Panken

AARON GOLDBERG_IRIDIUM/MAY 31-JUNE 4_On pianist Goldberg's first for Sunnyside (Worlds, just released), he's joined on one track by guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel - who'll play with him at Iridium - and on another by singer Luciana Souza. Mostly, though, it's a trio outing with Reuben Rogers playing bass and Eric Harland on drums. Look for this disc to appear on many best-of-2006 lists. (It also includes one tune with the year's best title so far: "Unstablemates"!) A Harvard grad in History and Science, Goldberg has sideman credits with Joshua Redman, Mark Turner, the LCJO and Nicholas Payton - but his manifold talents are best displayed, we think, leading this super-smart threesome. (Paul Blair)

Pianist/composer Aaron Goldberg's Worlds posits that jazz, spawned by cultural diversity, communicates most effectively the possibility of global understanding. Goldberg's trio might be an emissary of such understanding‹the original compositions and the performances are persuasive enough. The trio displays not only technical facility but a reassuring intra-group sensitivity that disarms the listener. In his original tunes ("Unstablemates", for example) Goldberg alludes to the jazz masters but then departs, urging the listener to join him in the friendly exploration of uncharted musical territory. Bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Eric Harland join Goldberg, with guest appearances by Brazilian vocalist Luciana Souza and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. In addition to seven original compositions, Goldberg interprets three Brazilian tunes by Djavan and Antonio Carlos Jobim. (Suzanne Lorge)

Throwing in his hat into the jazz trio lot, pianist Aaron Goldberg, (ex-sideman of Marsaolis/Redman/Rosenwinkel) has brought together his working band of Reuben Rogers (bass) and Eric Harland (drums) in this impressive display of Goldberg variations and Brazilian music. With a clean, precise touch, Goldberg displays warmth on originals like the clever remake of Benny Golson's "Stablemates" ("Unstablemates"). The band is lock in step with the tricky variations throughout this agreeable piece. They are also able to groove together as on the snappy "Taurus" and bouncy "Salvador". The band is able to play it soft and delicately, as on Jobims "Inutil Paisagem" and on "Kianda's Song", which also features the ethereal supporting voice of Luciana Souza. Guitarist Kurt Resenwinkel joins in for a guest solo spot on the ambitious "Oud to Omer", which allows plenty of space for creative interaction between the musicians. Finally out on his own, Goldberg shows lots of promise.

Man, am I glad that pianist Aaron Goldberg and I never tried to apply for the same job. I'm not a musician, but you should see this guy's CV. While he was double-majoring at Harvard in history and science plus mind, brain and behavior, he was working with Betty Carter, gigging weekends in Boston and winning all kinds of awards, including the formidable-sounding Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship. After graduation (magna cum laude), he moved to New York and played with a bunch of top names, among them Joshua Redman.

What next? Goldberg was a member of Wynton Marsalis's quintet and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Ah, well, now we're onto something: he's one of those young fogeys, all chops and no soul. But, you know, the problem with this critique of the young conservatives is that, sure, Stanley Crouch (an intellectual guru to some) can be a pompous ass, but most of the players are damn good and indeed quite soulful. (And don't misunderstand me, Mr. Crouch: I mean that you are an often brilliant pompous ass.)

Goldberg's playing is just delectable from start to finish. Admirers of Cecil Taylor or Marilyn Crispell might feel a kind of guilty pleasure digging his apparently retrograde style, but no guilt is necessary, and there's nothing retrograde about the style, either. The upside of the postmodern character of contemporary jazz is that all these stylistic strata can be sampled simultaneously. If you value the great piano trios, of which Evans's was surely the avatar, then go ahead and wallow in this trio's mastery of the idiom. And Goldberg's embrace of explicit and implicit Brazilian references contributes mightily to the unity and exuberance with which that mastery is expressed.

An essential ingredient in this record's success is the endlessly inventive interplay among the trio members: bassist Reuben Rogers and especially drummer Eric Harland play just as well as the leader, reminding us of the critical role played by bassists and drummers in great piano trios of times past. (Their CVs are not included in the press kit, but I'm reasonably confident that between them they hold a couple of biotechnology patents and/or Ivy League diplomas.)

Plenty of young players are remarkably good sidemen, but it's relatively unusual that so young a leader can convey and communicate so coherent a musical vision over the length of an album.

Characterize New York jazz at your peril. Intensity and ferocious virtuosity may be commonplace, but they are not the only irons in that city's jazz furnace. Pianist Aaron Goldberg here makes music that feels as if it has been softened in the same way a rainy day softens shades of green.

Not that it is simply limply lyrical. Its rhythmic vibrancy is consistently compelling, but without tainting the prevailing mood with belligerence, however diverse the contexts in an album aptly entitled Worlds.

Goldberg's previous credits include working with Freddie Hubbard, Joshua Redman and Madeleine Peyroux, and his eight-year-old trio is rounded out by the sensational playing of two fellow Wynton Marsalis alumni: bassist Reuben Rogers (Betty Carter) and drummer Eric Harland (Charles Lloyd), plus guest spots from singer Luciana Souza and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel.

AARON GOLDBERG TRIO (Tuesday and Wednesday) Mr. Goldberg has honed this trio, with Reuben Rogers on bass and Eric Harland on drums, to a fine point over the years. Here the group celebrates the release of ''Worlds'' (Sunnyside), a well-considered new release. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $20. (Nate Chinen)

Over the past decade, pianist Aaron Goldberg has maintained one of jazz's most delectable trios. Featuring the swinging bassist Reuben Rogers and the capaciously inventive drummer Eric Harland, the ensemble has forged a singular sound with an expansive textural palette and a repertoire deeply informed by Brazil's finest composers. There's only one problem. "Everyone steals my band," says Goldberg, 32, from his apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn, half in jest and entirely proud. "First, Charles Lloyd hired them, then Geri Allen and then Joshua Redman stole my band. But actually I'm just loaning them out."

The Boston native brings his superlative group to the Regattabar on Tuesday to celebrate the release of "Worlds" (Sunnyside), the pianist's first album as a leader in five years. With Brazilian singer Luciana Souza and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel each con tributing to one track, it's a gorgeous session that makes a compelling case for Goldberg's ensemble as one of the era's definitive piano trios.

Receiving due recognition will make it easier for Goldberg to keep the group working, but it's unlikely to prevent other bandleaders from raiding his combo. Rogers freelances widely in addition to his ongoing gigs with Lloyd and vocalist Dianne Reeves, and Harland is constantly on the move playing with Rosenwinkel, Lloyd, McCoy Tyner, and saxophonist Redman and the SFJAZZ Collective.

The pianist himself is a highly sought-after accompanist who's employed by an unusually broad range of bandleaders, from the tradition-minded Wynton Marsalis to Rosenwinkel and tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, two players who have developed not just original voices but entire harmonic vocabularies. Goldberg is well on his way to creating a similarly comprehensive sound. The pianist made an impressive debut as a leader in 1999 with "Turning Point," and introduced the trio two years later on "Unfolding" (both on J Curve). The concept behind "Worlds" was to showcase the trio's exponential leap as an ensemble with a tenaciously intuitive approach to shaping material on the bandstand.

The trio's most immediately identifiable influence stems from Goldberg's love of Brazilian music. A devoted student of the country's culture, Goldberg has studied Portuguese and the music of bossa nova and Brazilian pop masters such as Jobim, Caetano Veloso, Milton Nascimento, and particularly singer/songwriter Djavan.

"I fell in love with a lot of Brazilian music, and it started to influence my own writing," Goldberg says. "But I knew I wasn't interested in making a crossover or fusion album. I was interested in taking material from everywhere, material that I fell in love with, and interpreting it as a jazz trio.

"There really wasn't much thought put into arrangements," he adds. "Almost everything happened organically through the course of exploring on gigs." Raised in Brookline, Goldberg attended Milton Academy. Before he graduated at the age of 17 he had already formed relationships with revered jazz artists such as Jerry Bergonzi and Hal Crook. In 1991, he spent a year studying jazz at the New School University, which gave him a solid foothold in the Gotham jazz scene.

While he decided to return to Boston to attend Harvard, eventually graduating magna cum laude in 1996 with a degree in history and science, Goldberg continued his jazz education on the bandstand.

A long-running weekend gig made Wally's Cafe his Boston home base, though he spent summers in New York building relationships with his most advanced peers. Veterans took notice too, most important the legendary vocalist and talent scout Betty Carter, who recruited him as a founding member of her Jazz Ahead program. Settling in New York after graduating from Harvard, Goldberg worked steadily, often collaborating with players seeking to combine jazz with other musical traditions, such as the wildly inventive Argentine pianist/composer Guillermo Klein and Israeli tenor saxophonist Eli Degibri.

No gig did more to enhance his reputation than his four-year stint with Redman, which included two Warner Bros. recordings, 2001's "Beyond" and 2002's ambitious album-length suite "Passage of Time."

The trio with Rogers and Harland has been Goldberg's primary vehicle as a leader, but the pianist emphasizes that he sees the group as a collective, which is probably why he's been able to keep it together for so long.

For Harland, whose overwhelming technique, dynamic control, and spiritual commitment set him apart from his generation's profusion of remarkable drummers, the trio's creative freedom makes it an ideal situation. "Aaron's one of the most swinging pianists playing today," says Harland by cellphone while heading to a Kurt Rosenwinkel gig with Goldberg. "He's a very well-rounded musician. `Worlds' displays that, how he's really into Brazilian music. He really lives it, and he knows the language.

"He's always been a wonderful piano player, but now people get a chance to hear what we've been hearing. Worlds
Sunnyside Records, 2006

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We share one planet but our earth plays host to many spheres of sound. Music is always born within a particular cultural environment, yet jazz is a genre whose embrace is wide. One reason is gravitational. Great metropoli attract artists in waves from afar. Another is that a musician hops continents, spreading the gospel of home. More diplomat than missionary, he returns with ears opened. Instead of an identity crisis he then wrestles with an identity opportunity: grounding himself in the national he becomes a partisan of the international. Jazz, a language like any other, is open to creole forms -- indeed like America it was born of mixed parents. Yet this album is no fusion, except perhaps of minds. Rather it attempts to prove that song is cross-cultural currency. All music is social, emerging out of a womb of trust, empathy and a common goal. Our world is now many...may we also be one. --from the liner notes