Ben Goldberg – ‘Everything Happens To Be.’ (2021)

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feature photo: Adam Goldberg

Ben Goldberg as a clarinetist excels no matter the setting. As a leader and composer, he’s at his peak when surrounding himself with musicians who can not only carry out his mission, but add more to it. However, this is a musician who you can’t solve only by the heady company that he keeps.

His latest undertaking Everything Happens To Be. has on it the sounds of saxophonist Ellery Eskelin, guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Tomas Fujiwara alongside Goldberg’s various clarinets. It would be lazy to call this Thumbscrew fronted by a couple of reedists with an equally strong sense of adventure, although that alone would make a helluva record. But this is a record that goes further on the strength of Goldberg’s leadership.

The array of musicians assembled here is of the cream of the cream variety. A few years ago, Halvorson and Fujiwara joined with Goldberg to form The Out Louds and Goldberg has also done duets with Formanek. Eskelin had participated in Goldberg’s un-ordinarily fine Unfold Ordinary Mind (2013).

The main plot of Everything Happens To Be. is that Goldberg mostly composed chorales and then applied some creative dust to them and enabled his partners in this project to apply more. A chorale is, simply, a simple, stately hymn type of song. When you listen to Everything, you’ll hear some very straightforward melodies performed by people who revel in the not-so-straightforward. This is the dynamic that produces highly creative results.

Goldberg, Eskelin and Halvorson weave around each other so congruously during “What About,” almost simulating a breathing cadence. But Fujiwara stops the show with some truly sublime brushwork, where he makes it easy for you to continue playing the song in your head.

“21” has that sort of bop-derived theme that recalls so much of Goldberg’s old mentor Steve Lacy. And then there’s this opposing current churn by Halvorson and Fujiwara before the Fujiwara/Formanek swing machine gets going, where the latter really gets into his element. As the song picks up steam, the three front players are engaging in improvising and tight group play at once.

The plain beauty of “Fred Hampton” gets an injection of spirituality through Halvorson’s spacey tones. “Everything Happens To Be.” is an exemplar of how Goldberg leverages the talent at hand to maximize the creases in an uncomplicated melody, and then let Halvorson, Eskelin and himself stay completely in character for their standout solos.

Goldberg seems to marry his love for both Louis Armstrong and Ornette Coleman for “Cold Weather,” and pulls it off completely because everyone is on this same, abstract plane.

“Chorale Type” quickly breaks down into a wonderful Goldberg-Halvorson duologue, followed shortly by Formanek’s supple soliloquy, and then improvisations by all worked dauntlessly into the theme.

As you can guess from the title, “Tomas Plays The Drums” was written with Fujiwara in mind. However, the first sound is Goldberg’s contra-alto clarinet and as the rest of the band coalesces around him, intervals are provided for Fujiwara to shine. That’s just the start of the surprises as Halvorson’s acid guitar leads the ensemble into heavy rock direction.

After a freely-flowing intro, “Long Last Moment” tracks into a swing groove and Goldberg, Eskelin and Halvorson get to work, offering up countermelodies that thickens the plot of the tune. “To-Ron-To” practically smiles at you, and the polyphony that the front three put together suggests Dixieland but stretches toward avant-garde.

“Abide With Me” is like a bonus, a brief Thelonious Monk cover, with all the stately somberness the song requires. It drives home the point that even the most forward-thinking musicians dig hymns. Ben Goldberg is another one who does, but for Everything Happens To Be., he also digs deeper.

Everything Happens To Be. is now out, from Goldberg’s BAG Production.


S. Victor Aaron