Jazz has the reputation of being a phenomenon that’s born again all the time and entirely in keeping with this tradition, Geoff Goodman stands out one more time as a kind of birthing helper on the jazz scene with his new album ‘The Naked Eye’. It’s all about intelligently conceived music, without its having intellectually decorative borders, leaving room for sparkling improvisation: spontaneous turns of the horns contrast with complex arrangements. Only very few are able to achieve this – Geoff Goodman has succeeded in establishing himself as one of this illustrious circle (compare also ‘Tabla and Strings / Islands Everywhere’).

The surfaces of friction that thereby come about make you sit up and listen…they’re the spice in the soup; you can’t miss the unmistakeable clusters and guitar riffs of the band leader – not only are these the emulsion, but also signposts in the dramatic narrative of these musical sketches about the improbability of human existence. Whoever’s looking for pure entertainment will quickly find out that he’s in the wrong film. Unlike them, those who appreciate irony will find it truly worth while and will follow this musical incident with increasing pleasure.