Clarinetist Ben Goldberg is a Bay Area provocateur. His pioneering work with the New Klezmer Trio in the late '80s amplified "Radical Jewish Culture" long before New York City iconoclast John Zorn appropriated the concept. A few years later, at the helm of Junk Genius, Goldberg gave bebop classics a blasphemous punk-fueled shot in the arm when the jazz conservatives ruled the day. Most recently, the renowned band leader performed as a key accompanist in two prestigious SF Jazz Festival showcases. Goldberg and his latest quintet (featuring violinist Carla Kihlstedt) celebrates the CD release of the door, the hat, the chair, the fact — a stunning album that roves through wide-ranging moods and improv-rich modes with beauty, depth, and serene power.
