Jeff Goldblum review: ‘Great musicianship with a touch of humour & wit’

There was a unique win-win appeal for fans heading to the Palace Theatre to watch Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra last night. It was an opportunity to see a Hollywood superstar performing in Manchester for the first time, in an intimate setting no less. It was also a win for casual jazz lovers wanting to broaden their horizons, and by watching connoisseurs of jazz like Goldblum, his musical director and double bassist Alex Frank, saxophonist Scott Gilman, drummer Ryan Shaw, Joe Bagg on organ and Graham Dechter on guitar, delivering a jazz lesson on the art of improvisational melodies, solos and conversation, it was a win-win for everyone watching.

Goldbum, who radiated charm, charisma and an expressive, larger-than-life energy as he strolled onto the stage, opened with a fittingly improvised introduction. The actor/musician warmed the 2,000 in attendance up with impromptu renditions of ‘Tomorrow’ and ‘It’s The Hard Knock Life’ from Annie, which heads to the Palace Theatre in five days' time.

He also reminisced about handing Olivia Dean a Brit Award in the city earlier this year, his guest appearance at Laufey’s Co-op Live show and a movie connections game that took an unexpected detour after a heckler asked if he was dressed like Mr Bean, leading the 73-year-old to joke he was going to throw himself off the stage. The 73-year-old reacted to a screeching fan professing their love for him by asking everyone if they had seen The Exorcist, to a chorus of laughs. Nevertheless, the movie connections game ended up back to him after a final reference that mentioned Nathan Lane and Robin Williams’ performances in ‘The Birdcage’.

It was a unique yet memorable way to start the show, but as expected, Goldblum made it work, and the crowd was thoroughly engaged by the time the members of the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra emerged. The five-piece band were the perfect complement to Goldblum’s quirkiness, improvised conversational style and his larger-than-life presence as they started the set with ‘Grease Patrol’, shining a spotlight on Gilman’s rich sax and Dechter’s intricate guitar work.

Swiftly following it up with what Goldblum described as “the only original track on the setlist", he riffed away on a Count Basie lick as he eased into a rendition of ‘Jeff Goldblum’s Hosting Tonight’, a lyrically improvised rendition that included references to worker bees, Nando’s, Marmite and Jurassic Park.

A series of covers were sprinkled throughout the set from there on as Goldblum introduced Broadway star Khailah Johnson to provide lead vocals on ‘Let’s Face The Music And Dance’ before leading a bossa nova-influenced take of Taylor Swift’s ‘Lover’, which began with Goldblum asking the audience if they could identify who had the initials T.S., to which Johnson jokingly suggested the winner should get a date with Goldblum. It was an exchange that typified the performance. It was fun, relaxed and enjoyable for the audience and performers alike.

A jazz-influenced cover of Loreen’s ‘Tattoo’ benefitted from more improvised melodies, and Goldblum was happy to relive memories of his illustrious movie career, performing a rendition of ‘If I Only Had A Brain’ from The Wizard of Oz alongside Johnson. As the second part of the set unfolded, Goldblum continued with his quirky but comedic quips, stating that AI had suggested both Errol Garner and Jennifer Garner were married to Ben Affleck prior to a cover of 'Misty' and suggested that they should “suspend the music and just play charades” while teasing a rendition of the Joe Henderson Sextet’s ‘The Kicker’.

Goldblum even sampled a bottle of Irn Bru brought to him by Brooke Combe, last night’s opener, before asking everyone to guess his middle name, which led into a duet with Combe on Barbara Lynn’s ‘You’re Losing Me’. A brief rendition of ‘Defying Gravity’ provided a fitting final touch as the evening came to a close, wrapping up a performance that had everything you could possibly want.