Jeff Goldblum’s Arts & Lectures performance was ostensibly a jazz concert, and the music was very good. He’s got some real chops and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra was tight and swinging, but Goldblum the comedian is a big part of the show. He won the audience over before the show even started, sauntering onstage to crack hilarious and interacting with the audience in an appealing way that drew in all ages present, making acerbic observations and asking and taking questions. Mid-show he got gleeful responses from the many students in attendance as he called out for definitions of social media words and phrases in a list prepared by someone in his entourage. Shrieks of laughter, recognition and delight erupted for each new seemingly nonsensical (to most of the over 25s in attendance anyway) term or string of words. For some, his semi-standup act was probably the meat of the show, though I think they really enjoyed the music too, and with good reason. In his unique way, he proved to be a pretty darn good ambassador for jazz.
