Jeff Goldblum & the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra

Jeff Goldblum earned widespread acclaim for his screen performances in titles such as The Big Chill, Independence Day, and Jurassic Park, yet he simultaneously established a separate reputation as a refined jazz pianist. Through consistent appearances with his group the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra he developed a loyal listenership, and his first complete album, The Capitol Studio Sessions, arrived in 2018.

He entered the world in 1952 inside the Pittsburgh suburb of West Homestead, Pennsylvania, as part of a Jewish household whose roots reached back to Russia and Austria. Drawn to performance early on, he relocated to New York at seventeen, trained at the Neighborhood Playhouse under Sanford Meisner, and stepped onto Broadway in the Tony Award-winning 1971 production Two Gentlemen of Verona. From there he moved into screen work, first appearing as a criminal in the 1974 Charles Bronson vehicle Death Wish and then taking smaller yet warmly received parts in Nashville, Annie Hall, and The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Leading turns in the 1983 ensemble piece The Big Chill and the 1986 remake The Fly brought wider recognition, which grew further with his contributions to Jurassic Park in 1993 and Independence Day in 1996. Later he balanced intimate projects such as Igby Goes Down in 2002 and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou in 2004 against large-scale releases including Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok.

Parallel to acting, Goldblum maintained a lifelong engagement with music that began on piano during childhood. By his teenage years he was already performing in public, and he sustained those appearances while his film career advanced. During the 1990s he teamed with musician and producer John Mastro to launch the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, a name taken from an acquaintance in Pittsburgh. For more than two decades the ensemble maintained a steady schedule of engagements throughout Los Angeles, and in 2014 the pianist inaugurated a weekly residency at New York’s Carlyle Hotel. The group’s first studio recording, The Capitol Studio Sessions, emerged on Decca Records in 2018 and included contributions from trumpeter Till Brönner plus vocalists Imelda May, Haley Reinhart, and Sarah Silverman; the album entered the Billboard Jazz Albums chart in the top position. Twelve months afterward came the follow-up I Shouldn't Be Telling You This, which showcased additional guests including Fiona Apple, Sharon Van Etten, and Anna Calvi.