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.

Lucy Tauss, JazzTimes, July/August 2019

Brandon Goldberg’s YouTube channel is filled with videos of the young piano phenom performing publicly with preternatural poise and displaying jaw-dropping musical skill. There’s an eight-year-old Goldberg, outfitted in a pint-sized tuxedo, performing Haydn’s Piano Concerto No. 11 with the South Florida Youth Symphony. A nine-year-old Goldberg jamming with Monty Alexander. An 11-year-old Goldberg sitting in with Arturo Sandoval. He’s dazzled audiences on the TV show Little Big Shots and spoken and played at TEDx Talks, all before turning 10.

His star clearly on the ascent, Goldberg, now 13, has released his debut album, Let’s Play! (Brandon Goldberg Music). It’s a trio recording of standards and Goldberg originals that also features bassist Ben Wolfe and drummer Donald Edwards, with saxophonist Marcus Strickland guesting on two tracks. 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. It’s an impressive achievement by any standard, made doubly striking by the fact that Goldberg was 12 when he recorded it.

“I was obviously excited, but it was a little scary going into the studio with musicians like Ben Wolfe and Donald Edwards and Marcus Strickland,” Goldberg tells me by phone from his home in Miami. “It was really amazing to me to be able to hear my music through some of my favorite musicians.”

The opening track, a rhythmic reading of Thelonious Monk’s “Well, You Needn’t,” reflects the young pianist’s desire to interpret the piece in a way that was unlike Miles Davis’ version. “What if I create a different approach to it that’s kind of the reverse of what Miles did to it?” he asks. “Because Miles played with the melody and the chords, but what if I play with the rhythm?”

Inspiration for the funky original “You Mean Me,” meanwhile, came from Monk’s “I Mean You.” As its author explains, “I kind of did to ‘I Mean You’ what he [Monk] did to jazz music, which was flip it upside down and give it a whole new voice.”

Goldberg also delivers a solemnly beautiful solo piano version of Duke Ellington’s “In a " Sentimental Mood.” “There’s something about solo ballad playing—not necessarily solo piano, but solo ballad playing—and the freedom that it brings,” he observes, adding, “You can create an orchestra with solo piano because all the space in between the melody gives you the opportunity to really play the piano, as well as playing the tune.”

Before recording his take on “Angel Eyes,” Goldberg called his friend Monty Alexander, whom he’d first met in 2015 when they both played at the Miami Beach Jazz Festival. They discussed the song for about two hours. “He would give me, like, the three patterns that Frank Sinatra would go through,” Goldberg recounts. “The little things he would sing, the little stuff that he would expect from the pianist.”

Sinatra and the Rat Pack played an important role in Goldberg’s musical development. The young artist started playing the piano at three, initially trying to imitate the songs he’d heard that day at preschool. He exhibited a desire to perform publicly early. “If there was a piano player in the mall, I would, like, just stand by his side,” Goldberg recalls. “And when he would take a break, I would ask him, ‘Can I play a song on the piano?’”

One day Goldberg’s grandmother showed him a Rat Pack video. “I got all obsessed with that for probably a year or two,” Goldberg says. “I would check out everything—Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin.” That led him to discover Tony Bennett and Bill Evans, and the young artist got hooked on jazz: “It was Bill Evans’ sound that really inspired me. I just stopped and said, ‘Yeah, that’s what I want to do.’”

The late pianist’s music also inspired Goldberg to develop his own compositional skills. “After I got into Bill Evans, I really started to get into jazz music, and I would listen to it all the time, every day,” Goldberg says. “And from there, I would sit down—oh, I really like what this guy did, oh, I really like what this guy did. And I would sit down at the piano and try and figure out that little four-bar phrase that he was playing. And from that, I kind of developed my own voice from what I kept on hearing.”

At this point, Goldberg is uncertain about future recordings. “I’ve got school, my mom has a full-time job,” he says. “But it’s such an amazing experience that we went through, and hopefully I will have the opportunity to do it again in the near future.”

The past is prologue when it comes to precocious, teenaged pianist Brandon Goldberg, who during the past two years has taken top honors in several DownBeat Student Music Awards categories. A development perhaps surpassing these accomplishments is the release of his debut album, Let’s Play (Self Release; 44:51).

“McCoy”—Goldberg’s work that won the Original Composition–Small Ensemble category in the Junior High School division this year—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, and never more accessible as on “Dolphin Dance.” The trio’s treatment is a familiar one, but there’s a distinct warmth and jubilance that’s unique, and listeners can feel the group’s camaraderie—Ben Wolfe’s measured beats on bass, Donald Edwards’ unobtrusive ripples on drums and guest Marcus Strickland’s sweet lyricism on saxophone—and Goldberg’s amazing grasp of the tune’s melody and harmony. Goldberg is still a student in progress, but his jazz IQ is phenomenal and the prodigy seemingly has become prodigious.

-- Downbeat, Herb Boyd

It’s both inspiring and intimidating to hear about adolescent childhood jazz prodigies. I’ve seen Joey Alexander, Emily Bear and Eldar Djangarov before they learned how to drive, and was impressed by their techniques and style. Here is a guy barely past his Bar Mitzvah, and he’s got not only the chops, but an inspiring sense of restraint and style in both playing and composing on this album with all stars Ben Wolfe/b, Donald Edwards/dr and guest Marcus Strickland/ts.

Goldberg shows sophistication and wisdom in his approach to a hip read of “Well, You Needn’t” and is delicate on his solo spacing for “Blackbird.” His aria take of “In A Sentimental Mood” includes Ellingtonian quotes in a clever way, while still making it all  his own.  Wolfe brings in a sleek line  for both pianist and saxist during  “Dolphin Dance,” and Edwards’ assertiveness on “Caravan” gives no intimidation to the young lad. The team gets fun and funky when Strickland joins in for Goldberg’s own “You Mean Me” and his “McCoy” is a wondrous tribute to the  piano legend. Want to see this guy in concert!

-- George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly

Joey Alexander isn't the only precocious young pianist to emerge in recent years. 12 years old when Brandon Goldberg recorded this album, he has been raising eyebrows with his considerable piano skills. His teachers include Shelly Berg, Avery Shape, and Matt Wilson, and he has been mentored by Monty Alexander. Alexander is quoted in this booklet including observing how he is "always knocking out the crowd." I note that he received a DownBeat Student Music Jazz Instrumentalist Soloist Honors Winner in the May 2019 issue. On his debut recording, he is accompanied by Ben Wolfe on bass and Donald Edwards on drums with tenor saxophonist Marcus Strickland adding tenor sax to two of the nine selections.

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. "Angel Eyes," is a number that he talked about with Alexander (who had accompanied Frank Sinatra on it) and listened to him play the changes, resulting in an austere performance that had hints of Monk's "'Round About Midnight" about it. Edwards deftly using brushes on this.

"You Mean Me," a contrafact of Monk's "I Mean You," is played with a funk groove. Strickland plays some rugged tenor sax while Goldberg's playing is more angular here. Other originals include the dynamic "The Understream" with Edwards featured and his tribute to McCoy Tyner, "McCoy," with an auspicious introduction by bassist Wolfe. The Beatles' "Blackbird" receives an exquisite interpretation. There is also delightful melodic quality to his performance to Herbie Hancock's "Dolphin Dance." Strickland is superlative on this as well.

He interprets two Duke Ellington numbers. "Caravan" opens with Edwards' rumbling solo and then Goldberg stirs listeners on piano and Fender Rhodes by his use of polyrhythms and a clever riff. A solo rendition of "In a Sentimental Mood" is inspired by Ellington's introductory riff his recording with John Coltrane. It is engrossing to see how Brandon constructs and develops a solo showing a musical maturity well beyond his age.

With the superb backing he receives from Wolfe and Edwards, and Strickland's noteworthy contributions, Brandon Goldberg has produced a superlative jazz piano recording, not simply a promising debut.

Brandon Goldberg started studying piano when he was three and although he is only 13-years-old, he now plays it with the sensitivity of a true seasoned veteran. His debut album, Let’s Play (out April 12), finds him backed by bassist Ben Wolfe and drummer Doland Edwards, with special guest spots from saxophonist Marcus Strickland, and announces him as a force on the instrument through a mix of original compositions – including a heartfelt tribute to one of his heroes, McCoy Tyner – and his own arrangements of classics, including this beautiful take on Paul McCartney’s “Blackbird.”

Brandon Goldberg is only 13 years old, but he's already showing that age is no barrier to entry when it comes to jazz. The pianist has just released his debut album, featuring both originals and his arrangements of some classic standards. Don't miss this kid!

After hearing Joey Alexander make waves a few years ago, another young pianist is on the rise. His name is Brandon Goldberg, and he's based in Florida. The young musician is about to release his first ever studio album Let's Play! - recorded with Marcus Strickland on sax plus Ben Wolfe on bass and Donald Edwards on the drums. Goldberg has been heavily influenced by many of the great jazz pianists, but he has a particular love for McCoy Tyner - and one of his originals on the record is dedicated to the elder statesman. He also showcases some of his arranging skills with covers of tunes by Duke Ellington, Herbie Hancock and Thelonious Monk.