When you hear the name Jeff Goldblum, you may think of the award-winning actor’s roles in blockbuster films like The Fly, Jurassic Park, and Wicked. What you might not know is that Goldblum is the pianist, vocalist, and frontman of the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, a jazz ensemble he formed 30 years ago. The band has toured the world and recorded albums that feature artists like Gregory Porter, Kelly Clarkson, Miley Cyrus, Fiona Apple, Freda Payne, Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, and Scarlett Johansson.
Goldblum’s Mildred Snitzer Orchestra will soon be making a stop in Fairfax for a good cause, headlining George Mason University’s Arts by George! benefit on Saturday, October 3. Proceeds from the event support student scholarships for George Mason’s College of Visual and Performing Arts.
We talked with Goldblum about his music, acting, and memories visiting DC.
How do you balance acting and music?
I just kind of do what I’m interested in. I do things that I think might be delicious and fun. Ken Burns produced a series about Henry David Thoreau, and I played the part of Henry David Thoreau, and Meryl Streep did some voices in it, and George Clooney was in it. I was very happy to spend some time doing that, and I’m proud of it. And so [I choose] things that I think are worthwhile for me and may allow me to get a little better at one thing or another and contribute to the ongoing conversation and culture.
Your band has flourished and worked with top talent. How did it come about?
I know, really cool. We’ve been lucky. I mean, this whole thing is a surprise to me. I never was a careerist or ambitious in that way about music at all. I just loved it. And around the time I was 10, I had my heart set on acting as a career, obsessively. I just kept playing, just for fun, and even got my way into a couple of jobs when I was 15 around Pittsburgh at cocktail lounges. And then snuck it into a movie or two, or a play or two, and then started to play out and about with Peter Weller, with whom I’d done [The Adventures of] Buckaroo Banzai. He likes to play the horn. And then his friend Miles Davis supposedly said to him, ‘Hey, I know you and Jeff, you should go have a gig, once a week, and play with real musicians, and you’ll have fun.’ That’s how it started.
You’re performing at a college, but you didn’t go to a traditional college, correct?
I went between ninth and 10th and 10th and 11th grades. I went to Carnegie Mellon University [pre-college programs] because I signed up for their drama program in the summer, and the regular faculty came, and I had some good teachers. I fell in love with it there. But then right after high school, I went to New York City to study at The Neighborhood Playhouse [School of the Theatre], which was a two-year, serious kind of acting studio with Sanford Meisner at the helm. And that’s where I got my post–high school education, until I fell into, miraculously, my first couple of jobs. In between the first and second year I fell into Shakespeare in the Park. And Two Gentlemen of Verona, the musical version, was a big hit that went to Broadway. And that’s how I got my start.
Are you looking forward to visiting DC?
I can’t wait. It’s the great capital of our nation, which I visited on a field trip. [And] my parents took us on vacation when I was in fourth grade. I think I ran all the way up the steps [in] the Washington Monument. And I think it put me in bed for a couple of days.
Will you have any time while you’re here to do some sightseeing? Are there any places you want to go to?
I hope so. What would you recommend? I’m counting on you mostly.
You should bring your sons [ages 8 and 9 with wife Emily Goldblum] to the Smithsonian museums. Have you been to them recently?
Not recently, but I remember with my parents we went to the Smithsonian [Air and Space Museum and] we saw The Spirit of St Louis. And then we went to the [U.S.] Mint [and] we saw where the money is made — I used to collect coins. And we went to the Jefferson Memorial. And I’ve gone a couple of times to the White House Correspondents’ [Association] dinners. And so I’ve had a little tour of the White House. I saw that piano they have there, and I don’t know if I was allowed to, but they let me play a little something on that treasured object. And I took a picture with the wonderful President Obama and Michelle.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Feature image by Pari Dukovic
This story originally ran in our September issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
