Passion for Polka Drives One-man Band
Columbus resident has been playing for nearly 50 years

By: Molly Petrilla , Staff Writer, 06/15/2006
Register News, A Packet Publications website

COLUMBUS — Ed Goldberg's many passions keep him busy.
Between teaching computer programming courses at local institutions, riding in the New York City 100-mile Century Bike Tour, and performing in Carnegie Hall, he's never been a "one-man band" just in the musical sense. (Though he does that, too.) For almost 50 years, Mr. Goldberg, 64, of Fitzgerald Lane, has played many different tunes at the same time. He's performed with
more musical groups than he can count on one hand. He's been featured on over 150 recordings. And, in a balancing act worthy of Cirque du Soleil, he's managed to keep his musical career only a part-time gig.

It was in those early years in North Jersey, though — the ones when he was earning a master's degree, working full time, raising two children, and performing with the Jimmy Sturr polka band — that Mr. Goldberg first proved his ability to keep the beat amid chaos. It's an ability he still possesses, and that he showcases locally in both his one-man band solo act and as leader of the Odessa Klezmer Band.

At the behest of his parents, Mr. Goldberg began taking piano lessons at the age of 8. However, "at that time, there was no place for piano in bands or orchestras," he explains. Soon, he realized that if he wanted to perform with a group, he was going to have to find another instrument. In junior high school, his orchestra teacher was in need of a string bass player. Even though he'd never played the bass before, Mr. Goldberg offered himself for the job, and before long mastered his new instrument.

In high school, Mr. Goldberg joined Walt Lesniak's polka band as its bassist and vibra-harp player. With that group, he was able to tap into the musical styles he'd soaked up as a child in culturally diverse Elizabeth. In addition, he developed a friendship with a man 10 years his senior whom he remains close with to this day. "Walt was my mentor," he says. "He's really who I'll always have my roots with. I'd go out and perform with him and not get home until late at night, but my folks never worried about me when I was with Walt."

Mr. Goldberg continued performing with Mr. Lesniak's band throughout his undergraduate career at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, while at the same time keeping his piano-playing polished. By the time Mr. Goldberg began his master's degree work, other polka bands began to come calling as well — most of which were more interested in his piano playing than his bass skills. He began performing and recording with well-known polka groups, including the Connecticut Twins, Happy Louie & His Polka Band, Walt Solek's Polka Band and Jimmy Sturr's Orchestra.

It was then that Mr. Goldberg developed the "Goldberg Glissando" — a flashy, mid-song swipe up and down the keyboard. "That was his signature thing," Mr. Sturr recalls. "When people heard that on a recording, everybody knew it was Eddie Goldberg." Until the late 1980s, Mr. Goldberg performed almost exclusively with Mr. Sturr, a 15-time Grammy Award winner. By the end of the decade, though, "I'd had enough." Tired of traveling every weekend while working during the week as an electrical engineer for the New Brunswick Board of Education, Mr. Goldberg decided to leave the band. "I was really worried," he recalls. "I didn't know where I was headed. I was very concerned about still doing something musically, but was anyone going to hire me?"

He set off on his own with a multi-sound keyboard, billing himself as a one-man band for weddings, anniversaries and birthday parties. And, much to his delight, "people started hiring me." News of his high-energy, interactive act spread by word of mouth, and soon he was booking frequent gigs. Mr. Goldberg says he taps into his extensive musical background for these performances, playing everything from oldies rock 'n' roll to Polish polkas to the electric slide. "The one-man band is capable of rocking," he says. "I can jive up the whole crowd." He does so on a Ketron keyboard that's capable of sounding like dozens of different instruments. "Really, it's the keyboard and what I do to it that makes me the one-man band," he says.

Though they were a good start, these solo gigs weren't quite enough to satiate his desire to perform. So while his one-man act got off the ground, Mr. Goldberg joined the Odessa Klezmer Band, becoming the group's leader several years later. With that band, in which he plays keyboard and midi accordion, he's performed everywhere from New York's Gracie Mansion to kibbutzes and army bases throughout Israel. But of all the venues which his musical career has brought him — and there are many of them — Mr. Goldberg says he will always remember his first time on stage in Carnegie Hall in the late 1980s. "That performance required the most dedication and concentration — it had to be perfect," he says. "For a musician to play Carnegie
Hall — you've made it."

And by these standards, he did. In the span of several decades, Mr. Goldberg performed in the world-famous hall a total of five times with the Jimmy Sturr Orchestra. Between trips to Carnegie, Mr. Goldberg has had time to reflect on the changes he's seen take place in the industry. First, there has been the shift from acoustic instruments to electric ones.

Mr. Goldberg works to keep up with changing technology, purchasing new equipment or add-ons for his keyboard as they become available. Still, he says he prefers the sound and nature of the old-fashioned piano. "If you have 25 people who can play the keyboard, maybe five of them can play the piano," he explains. "It takes a special feeling — you have to become one with the piano. When I'm sad or there's something wrong, I sit at the piano. And when I'm happy, I play the
piano."

Mr. Goldberg has also witnessed the growing preference among young people for DJs, rather than live music — a trend that doesn't intimidate him. "There are times when a DJ is really the way to go," he admits. "But I'm very much pro-live music, and there's no way its going to get phased out." And, it seems, neither is Mr. Goldberg. Currently, he is performing as a one-man band at local celebrations and in senior centers, and he just finished recording a new CD with Odessa. In addition, though he retired from his job in New Brunswick, he's also kept up with his love of computers, teaching programming courses at The College of New Jersey and Middlesex County Community College.

"He just has this extra store of energy," says his wife, Barbara. "I don't know where it comes from, but I think he's always had it."

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