I'd always try to slip piano playing into my movies'
Evening Standard|March 22, 2023
Jeff Goldblum, cult film star turned best-selling jazz musician, talks to Liz Aubrey about this joyful reinvention, his
Liz Aubrey
I'd always try to slip piano playing into my movies'

ISN’T it all just crazy?!” Jeff Goldblum says with a bemused smile, hands aloft in disbelief, as he reflects on what he describes as his recent “growth spurt”. He’s not referring to a sudden change in his already imposing height (he’s six foot four) but to the fact that now, aged 70, he’s managed to carve out a second career as an acclaimed jazz musician alongside his status as one of the most famous actors on the planet. “Isn’t it really something?!”

An appearance on The Graham Norton Show in 2017 led to Goldblum’s surprise second career. Musician Gregory Porter was a fellow guest, and Goldblum, who’s been playing piano since childhood, volunteered to play for him. It was watched by a boss at Decca who flew out to see Goldblum and signed him on the spot. Since then, he’s released two albums with his band, The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, and a new EP, Plays Well With Others, arrives this week. He’s done this in between work on last year’s Jurassic Park: Dominion, a new Wes Anderson film and a role in Wicked, the Wizard of Oz prequel. How does he find the time? “It’s sometimes challenging, but I’ll tell you, I do find the time,” Goldblum laughs. “I have a piano in my hotel room and an electric keyboard in my trailer, so when there’s a moment or two, I’m practising and playing.”

This story is from the March 22, 2023 edition of Evening Standard.

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This story is from the March 22, 2023 edition of Evening Standard.

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