Aaron Goldberg Trio Brings Jazz Back Post-COVID

The jazz drought is officially over at the Kahilu Theatre, thanks to the Aaron Goldberg Trio. Amid the pandemic, shutdowns, and canceled tours, it’s been years since local jazz fans have had a chance to experience a talented pianist like Christian Sands or Laurence Hobgood in person. Finally, Goldberg quenched our thirst at his Sunday matinee concert.

Goldberg is among the hardest-working pianists on the modern jazz scene. He grew up in a household where jazz wasn’t played – only classical. “I was fortunate in high school to have a teacher who taught math by day and was a jazz bass player by night,” Goldberg recalled in our pre-show interview.

“To my good fortune, the school let him teach a jazz improvisation class for people like me with no jazz background. For homework, he gave us a Maxell cassette of classics by Miles Davis, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, and Herbie Hancock. I listened to it a thousand times and got hooked! I learned jazz the way I learned English, by copying those who spoke better than I did.”

Aaron Goldberg. Photo: Steve Roby

Goldberg began in the early 1990s in New York and studied at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. He’s since collaborated with many of jazz's finest stars, including Freddie Hubbard, Wynton Marsalis, and Betty Carter, and has maintained a long-standing relationship with saxophonist Joshua Redman, with whom he’s performed extensively.

Matt Penman on upright bass and Mark Whitfield Jr. on drums were central to Goldberg's top-shelf trio. Penman, from Auckland, New Zealand, began playing bass at 14. He's a regular performer with jazz-rock guitarist John Scofield and a member of the SFJazz Collective, an 8-piece composer's collective dedicated to presenting its members' original compositions. Penman’s been playing with Goldberg since 1994.

Drummer Mark Whitfield Jr., at 31, is the youngest member. He was introduced to music by his father, guitarist Mark Whitfield. At age four, two years into playing drums, he sat in with the Whitfield Family Band on an episode of Good Morning America. He later earned a reputation as one of the best young jazz drummers and was nominated for a Grammy in 2014.

Fingers flashing but never flamboyant, Goldberg opened the show with an original composition titled “Shed.” He noted that it was written for his good friend and fellow musician, Joshua Redman. It played out in a 5-4 groove, which might sound disjointed to some. The song felt like it could be the soundtrack to one of those noir crime films on TCM, especially when he reached into the piano to create special effects. However, “Shed” seamlessly flowed into “Yoyo,” Goldberg’s version of the traditional Haitian song. The audience got its first glimpse of what the talented Whitfield can do effortlessly behind his kit.

Goldberg doesn’t like to work within the confines of a structured setlist or even call out to his band members what he’s playing next. However, they don’t mind and follow his improvisational flow with ease.

For the midsection of the concert, Goldberg launched into a four-song, 20-minute set before coming up for air. Then, slightly out of breath, he back announced what the trio had just played before diving in for another 30 minutes.

Aaron Goldberg Trio. Photo: Steve Roby

The show ended with a reworking of Stevie Wonder’s classic “Isn’t She Lovely.” A lady seated behind me stood up and said, “That was outstanding!”

After the concert, the trio took a break before returning to the stage to record a private 30-minute music education segment streamed on Kahilu TV exclusively for local schools. Each musician demonstrated their instrument’s unique capabilities and their role within the group. Goldberg then fielded music questions from bassist Penman’s seven-year-old daughter, Isabella.

Goldberg works with many trios besides the one he brought to the Kahilu. Next month, he’ll be touring Europe with bassist Omer Avital and drummer Ali Jackson in a group called Yes! Goldberg’s longstanding trio, featuring Reuben Rogers on bass and Eric Harland on drums, will release a new album this summer, followed by a fall tour.

Program Notes

Setlist: Shed | Yoyo | Black Orpheus (Manha De Carnaval) | Isn’t This My Sound Around Me | Sea Shanty | Poinciana | Isn’t She Lovely |

Concert date: 02/FEB/2022

Venue: Kahilu Theatre