EPISODE 104 - Ned Goold

2025-02-06

Ned Goold is as distinctive an inside-outside tenor player as there is, and he should be a household name given the luck he's had with employment. Besides fronting his own trio on several CDs, he has been a mainstay of Harry Connick Jr.'s bands since the early '90s. Goold's unique tone combines something of the cool, sharp delivery of Bird and Charlie Rouse with the breathy insistence of Lester Young and subtle phraseology of Dizzy Gillespie. His modern system of harmonic improvisation...

Ned Goold is as distinctive an inside-outside tenor player as there is, and he should be a household name given the luck he's had with employment.

Besides fronting his own trio on several CDs, he has been a mainstay of Harry Connick Jr.'s bands since the early '90s. Goold's unique tone combines something of the cool, sharp delivery of Bird and Charlie Rouse with the breathy insistence of Lester Young and subtle phraseology of Dizzy Gillespie.

His modern system of harmonic improvisation (based on 20th century serial concepts) brings the swing approach into the new century. Ned Goold is perhaps best known as a member of Harry Connick, Jr.'s backing band, but he has also performed with artists like Ben Wolfe, Brother Jack McDuff and the legendary Haitian group, Tabou Combo. In the early '80s, Goold got his start as a session saxophonist, playing paying gigs at night while studying his craft during the day. By 1990, his solo improvisation skills were well known enough for Harry Connick, Jr. to invite Goold into his band, and an additional gig with Connick's bassist Ben Wolfe followed shortly after.

In addition to his work on Connick's records and the showcase album Jazz Underground: Live At Smalls, Goold has released four solo albums, 1998's Goold and the following year's Entropy. He has since recorded and released two acclaimed CD's on Smalls records: The Flows and March of the Malcontents.

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