Hollywood icon Jeff Goldblum, who has been playing the piano since he was a child, and his long-time band The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra have been performing at venues in Los Angeles and New York City over the past few decades. When he’s not filming, the actor hosts a weekly jazz variety show at LA’s Rockwell Table and Stage. Frequented by locals and A-listers alike, the show intersperses Goldblum’s love of jazz with his passion and skills at improvised comedy. The atmosphere and energy of these shows is captured perfectly on this album, which Jeff credits to producer Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock, Madeleine Peyroux). For the recording, Larry recreated the buzz of The Rockwell at the legendary Capitol Studios. The studio was transformed into a jazz club – food and drink was served to an invited live studio audience of Rockwell regulars, friends and family.

The album lives in that magical area where artists and audiences meet. There is a joyful sense of anything-can-happen and a spirit of creative generosity – in how Jeff speaks to his fans, how he accompanies guest singers and soloists, and especially in how Jeff comps. The Capitol Studios Sessions is the realization of this idea: jazz and standards presented in a manner that dares to be high-spirited and to make you feel good. The repertoire includes favorite ‘60s jazz numbers “Cantaloupe Island” and “I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel To Be Free),” the 1940s classic “Straighten Up & Fly Right” with guest vocals from Irish superstar singer/songwriter Imelda May, “My Baby Just Cares For Me” from 1930, featuring songstress Haley Reinhart and the 1920s song “Me And My Shadow” sung by comedian/actress, Sarah Silverman. The band are joined by the extraordinary Grammy-nominated trumpeter Till Brönner.

Jeff Goldblum and The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra deliver the feel and the swing, and they make it fun, funny, and familiar. Those are words not often associated with jazz, though they still can be, and with this album we are reminded of that.