Jeff Goldblum.

[Outkaster]

I know a couple jazz pianists that are very good that don't like his playing. It came up the other day in conversation, funny this thread just came out at the same time.

[Bobadohshe]

I've seen somewhat similar arguments with Diana Krall ("Pretty face but weak jazz player...").

 

Just a quick aside and not to pick on you in particular Rod S as I dig the spirit and meat of your post, but I think Diana's a badass. Everything I've heard her play has been very tasty and had great feel. (Granted I not a giant fan with all her records)

[Rod S]

I've seen somewhat similar arguments with Diana Krall ("Pretty face but weak jazz player...").

 

Just a quick aside and not to pick on you in particular Rod S as I dig the spirit and meat of your post, but I think Diana's a badass. Everything I've heard her play has been very tasty and had great feel. (Granted I not a giant fan with all her records)

Oh, so do I! I have several of her albums and a concert on DVD. I certainly don't put her on the same bucket, my comment was related to the similarities of the comments. I have seen several jazz players/enthusiasts comment negatively on her popularity (including here in the past) in a similar manner, usually on the line is that she is successful because of her looks but her style is bland, limited chops, diminishes jazz, and so forth.

 

Anyways, interesting to see the opposing perspectives, as I'm neither in the music business, nor an avid jazz listener, and not as an accomplished player by a lot of folks here. I appreciate the opposing perspectives on the polarizing discussions.

 

In any case, didn't mean to digress from the original topic, but I guess I did!

[Dave Ferris]

Her vocal phrasing is actually pretty darn sophisticated. And while her playing isn't going to remind anyone of Kenny Barron, it's very tasty, and in the pocket. Those records/videos she made with John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton and different guitarists, Anthony Wilson and others, are very cool imo.

 

I think she lost a little bit -vocally and piano wise- when she had the child a few years back but the last I heard she's starting to sound good again. She was taking informal lessons at the same time I was with Jimmy Rowles back in the late '80s..

 

The funny thing about Jeff I noticed, especially in that FB video, is that he started , as what Josh called it, the mugging. I saw him 20 years or so ago when he first started out playing around town. He was very low key. He had a sort of Bill Evans studious type vibe back then. Some of my friends - bass, sax and drums- were playing with him at that time. I guess has time went on, perhaps he felt more confident in what he was doing. Also maybe the Hollywood actor thing came more into prominence. I actually heard that what he was playing had more substance back then what I've heard on the two videos. It sounds like he has regressed. Just my observation fwiw.

[Adan]

His playing is not very good, and yet I'm having a hard time seeing anything negative in this. Is he "stealing gigs"? Possibly, but this seems more like a situation where the artist is filling seats with folks who might otherwise be at the movies, etc. We don't know that, but it's certainly plausible.

 

As for the mugging, I'd be disappointed if he didn't. It's his primary talent on display.

[EVC]

I like him as an actor. He has a singular way of acting. I think in these videos, the "mugging" (if I understood it write - English is not my native language) is

just JG being... JG.

 

As for his playing (layman's perspective, so to speak), I agree he is not great but I don't think he is bad either. What I liked in these videos and some others I watched out of curiosity is he keeps a low profile and let the other musicians of the band shine. Nice attitude IMO and one not common on famous people.

[MathOfInsects]

I was actually clicking over to say something similar to Rocco's comment. I'm sympathetic to the idea that he's "level jumped" because of his celebrity status, but I don't think the gigs he is playing were going to other players if he couldn't do them: they exist solely because he is Jeff Goldblum. If anything, he's giving work to guys who have earned their "level" and putting them in the public eye, where they might otherwise not have been that night.

 

Also, if the comments on that FB video that Dave F posted are any indication, it doesn't sound like it's any mystery to folks that Goldblum isn't exactly the strongest part of his band.

 

It's entertainment, pure and simple, kind of like when...was it Danny Kaye? used to conduct symphony orchestras. No one thought he was stealing jobs from "real" conductors; it was his show from the beginning.

[Joe Muscara]

In the FB video that Mitch posted on , that's the venerable Joe Bagg on organ/Nord. One of LA's finest.

https://www.facebook.com/siriusxm/videos/2200990266780783/UzpfSTU1MDcxMDgxMToxMDE1NTgzODk5MTA0NTgxMg/

I just watched this and my first thought was that he's the David Lee Roth of jazz piano.

 

I don't love what he's bringing to the table musically, but I'm not going to hate on it, either. I hope it's a good gig for those in the band(s), and that it brings more people into the jazz world as fans. I mean, if Gregory Porter can work with him, and I saw Peter Martin say good things about him on Instagram, who am I to judge?