Jeff Goldblum at the London Palladium
Many people associate Jeff Goldblum with his decades-long filmography and quirky off-screen persona. He starred in cult movies such as The Fly and Jurassic Park, and his most recent acting credits include Netflix’s Kaos and the blockbuster hit Wicked. However, Goldblum is also a dedicated jazz pianist who, alongside his band The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, regularly performs classic standards from the Great American Songbook. Fresh off an intimate performance at Pryzm Kingston, tonight they grace the historic London Palladium.
The set opens with a rendition of Plas Johnson’s Grease Patrol, a track from their latest studio album Still Blooming. It features the first of many blazing sax solos from Scott Gilman, and the band is far from eclipsed by Goldblum’s star power. Lively drums flutter beneath Joe Bagg’s staccato keyboard lines during The Cat. The actor, ever true to his idiosyncratic stage presence, punctuates each phrase with a snap of the fingers, or else a conspiratorial glance at the crowd.
World War Two era pop tune We’ll Meet Again teeters between wartime optimism and poignant loss, fronted by British jazz vocalist Emma Smith. Having previously joined the band in London – and bonded by a shared love of the classics – she and Goldblum share a sparkling chemistry. Smith’s grandfather, who spent 20 years as a trombonist for Frank Sinatra, had decades earlier performed alongside the famous crooner at the Palladium. The singer comments that tonight feels like a homecoming.
A second guest vocalist, London-born Dodie, exudes a different sort of energy, admitting that she’s shaking both from nerves and excitement. Nevertheless, she takes to 1954’s Misty with ease, gliding around the stage throughout Goldblum’s tastefully restrained piano solo.
The Hollywood icon doesn’t have the same chops as the other soloists, but musical director and double-bassist Alex Frank has crafted a set that relies less on virtuosity and more on playfulness. Indeed, Goldblum’s showmanship sets him apart. Striking up an endearingly awkward repartee with a hapless sound engineer, the band looks on while he jovially investigates his family background, before trying to get him to sing the British national anthem. The engineer stays professional, but by the end of the show his every entrance is greeted by fervent applause.
It’s Goldblum’s ability to impart his passion that gives the show its shine. Whether it’s making a brief star out of a shy staff member or getting the audience to write lyrics on the fly, his charm is irrepressible.
Ben Browning
Photos: Virginie Viche
For further information and future events visit Jeff Goldblum’s website here.
Watch the video for The Grease Patrol here:
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