bio
Phillip Golub (b. 1993), "a musician in fast ascent" (Wall Street Journal) and "[a] brilliant improviser" (JazzTimes), is a pianist, improviser, and composer based in Brooklyn, NY. Originally from Los Angeles, he creates highly original and expressive music, grounded in but not constrained by his engaged practice in jazz, creative music, and new music. Technically audacious, Golub sublates distant sound worlds, negating conventions, yet building on traditions.
Golub was nominated for the "Newcomer of the Year - International" category of the 2025 German Jazz Prize for his debut release as a bandleader, Abiding Memory (Berthold Records/Endectomorph Music). He is a 2025 Jazz artist in residence at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, SC. He will also be the Musician-in-Residence at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, DC for the fall semester of 2025. Golub has been described by critics as "a polymath who elides any divide between improvised and composed music, or jazz and contemporary approaches [...] whose practice can't be contained by genre or discipline" (The Wire Magazine) and as an artist with "seemingly boundless creativity" (Downbeat). His recordings have been praised as “cutting edge” (Sequence 21), while containing “a profound concept […] triumphant […] fascinating” (Pop Matters). As a player, he has been noted for bringing “assurance, charisma, and infectious enthusiasm” (Steve Smith) to his performances and manifesting “exhilarating energy, charisma, and a canny ability to transform the complex and even inscrutable into sophisticated yet joyful noise” (Allmusic.com). Golub is in demand as a pianist on New York’s jazz, creative music, and world music stages, performing and recording with a wide variety of artists such as Layale Chaker, DoYeon Kim, Lesley Mok, Anna Webber, Amir ElSaffar, Brad Shepik, and Seajun Kwon. He has performed across the world at venues and festivals in Europe, North America, and Asia. In addition to leading his own bands and projects, Golub deeply values collaboratively led projects. Golub co-founded the collective Tropos with his colleagues at the New England Conservatory, which released its debut record Axioms // 75ab in 2020 to mark the 75th birthday of Anthony Braxton. A new formation of the ensemble, featuring Yuma Uesaka (clarinets), Ledah Finck (violin), Aaron Edgcomb (drums/percussion), and Golub, was the 2023 recipient of Chamber Music America's Ensemble Forward grant. Tropos worked with mentor Darius Jones on the music for their forthcoming release Switches, on Endectomorph Music. Golub also performs in a collective duo with Lesley Mok, under the name dream brigade. Mok and Golub released their debut self-titled album on Infrequent Seams. Golub has an unwavering commitment to honoring the genealogy of jazz. He has played numerous times in bands led by jazz legend Cecil McBee and worked extensively with Wayne Shorter and esperanza spalding on their opera … (Iphigenia). He continues to play a crucial role in the Shorter estate, digitizing and preparing manuscripts for publication. Golub holds masters degrees from The New England Conservatory (Jazz Performance) and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (Composition). |
photo by Nathalie Basoski
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