Jeff Goldblum & The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra: I Shouldn't Be Telling You This (DECCA)

Jeff Goldblum & The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra

I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This

DECCA

Dec 18, 2019 Web Exclusive By Andy Von Pip

Long before he was roaming Jurassic Park analyzing dinosaurs or vomiting digestive enzymes onto his food in The Fly, Hollywood star Jeff Goldblum began his creative life as a musician playing gigs. In fact, he’s been playing the piano for over 30 years and has, during his acting career, managed to gig on an ad hoc basis with his own jazz ensemble, The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra (Mildred was apparently a close friend of Goldblum’s Mother). Last year at age 66 he released his debut studio album, The Capitol Studios Sessions, which rocketed to number one in the U.S. jazz album chart. And 2019 saw him wow Glastonbury festival-goers with a mixture of skilled musicianship, ready charm, ill advised trousers, and good humor.

For his second album, I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This, Goldblum has assembled a stellar line up of guest singers from across the contemporary musical spectrum, including Miley Cyrus, Gregory Porter, Sharon Van Etten, Fiona Apple, and Anna Calvi. As you might except and hope, each artist brings their own personality to the table, but it’s an album that also knits together beautifully as a cohesive whole.

Sharon Van Etten appears on the album’s opening track and immediately imbues Irvine Berlin’s 1936 classic “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” with an atmosphere of languid grace, doomed grandeur ,and a resigned sense of C’est la vie. Instrumentals “Driftin’” and “The Kicker” allow the band to show their musical acumen and they do so without ever resorting to any unnecessary showboating. And it’s all as relaxed and slinky as the man himself.

Miley Cyrus’s performance on “The Thrill Is Gone” really hits the mark as she gives a sensitive , mature, yet powerful rendition aided by Goldblum and his band’s nimble and intuitive playing. However, it’s Fiona Apple who really steals the show producing a timeless, poignant, and deeply moving performance on “Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me.” Elsewhere Gregory Porter manages to meld the velvety tones of Nat King Cole with the pizzazz and showmanship of Frank Sinatra on “Make Someone Happy,” whilst Anna Calvi, noted for her intensely powerful performances, sounds almost playful on “Four on Six / Broken English.”

It’s hard to fault an album that’s obviously been put together with such care and thought, and Goldblum’s affable good nature seems to radiate throughout. At its heart, I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This is a playful romp through a carefully curated selection of jazz standards played with style, aplomb, and a sense of fun. It’s an album that can be enjoyed by both aficionados and inquisitive newcomers to jazz and, rather like Goldblum himself, it’s as effortlessly smooth as a freshly buttered banister. (www.facebook.com/goldblumofficial)

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