2015 Starts Off On A Sad Note: Jeff Golub R.I.P.

Just last November, guitarist Jeff Golub had been diagnosed with a rare brain disease; an aggressive and untreatable degenerative disease called Progressive Supranuclear Palsy to which he finally succumbed on New Year’s Day at age 59.

Golub had lost his eyesight inexplicably in 2011 and since then had recorded what is now his final album: the 2013 release “Train Keeps A Rolling”, a collaboration with the legendary english keyboardist Brian Auger. It was Golub’s 12th album and the final one in a successful career which began right after his studies at the Berklee College of Music and his move to New York in 1980. He landed a gig with rock artist Billy Squier which led to further work with Gato Barbieri, Bill Evans, Alphonse Mouzon or Tina Turner.

In 1988, he began work with Rod Stewart and he released his first solo album the same year. Called “Unspoken Words”, he started his impressive career both under his own name and with the group Avenue Blue. Further work on his albums saw collaborations with Gerald Albright, Kirk Whalum, Rick Braun, Jeff Lorber, and Jonathan Butler. Fate struck again in 2012 when he fell onto a New York subway track and was dragged by an oncoming train. He walked away with only minor injuries.

“To me, there’s only two kinds of music: the kind that’s from the heart and the kind that’s not”, says Golub on his homepage for the release of his last album. “Regardless of the style or genre, music is either real or it’s not real. I like any kind of music that’s from the heart, and that’s the kind I try to make.”

A tribute concert featuring many of the artists with whom Golub collaborated will take place Jan. 21 at B.B. King’s Blues Club in Manhattan.