Released the same day in 2013 as
Unfold Ordinary Mind,
Subatomic Particle Homesick Blues is quite a different project. It was actually recorded a few years earlier with a substantially different and more conventional group of clarinet, tenor sax, trumpet, bass, and drums. Although this is another group of great players and soloists (
Joshua Redman,
Ron Miles,
Devin Hoff, and
Ches Smith), again it's
Goldberg's writing that really makes it work. He writes actual songs, not just solo vehicles, and he really knows how to write and arrange for multiple horns. No fat on these songs either: only four of 11 tracks go past the five-minute mark, so this is not an album of instrumental indulgences.
Subatomic Particle Homesick Blues is a modern jazz album with the focus of a Blue Note hard bop date. Good stuff. ~ Sean Westergaard