CreateBecome EPK
Music for a Growing Journey
Artist: Alan Goldberg
Label: Independent / Alan Goldberg Music
Release Date: Released March 10, 2025
Genre: Progressive Rock / Jazz Fusion / Instrumental
Release Overview
CreateBecome is the fifth full-length album from Austin-based composer and pianist Alan Goldberg. Blending progressive rock, jazz fusion, contemporary classical textures, swing, and piano-centered ensemble writing, the album explores growth, choice, transformation, and the lifelong process of becoming.
The record moves like a classic progressive album: connected by theme, shaped by motion, and carried by melody, rhythm, harmony, and improvisation. At its center is the piano — sometimes leading, sometimes weaving through horns, guitar, strings, bass, and drums — guiding the listener through a journey of creation, change, and realization.
About the Album
CreateBecome takes its name from a mantra Alan Goldberg has carried for more than forty years. Repeated as a focus for presence and transformation, the phrase became both a way of being and the natural title for an album built around growth, attention, choice, and change.
Across eleven instrumental pieces, CreateBecome follows a cycle: creation, movement, questioning, emotional trust, pursuit, survival, connection, uncertainty, resolution, and acceptance. Each track becomes a step in the larger journey — a moment of awareness, a choice made in sound, and part of an unfolding musical path.
The album threads together alternative and progressive rock, jazz fusion, swing, contemporary classical textures, guitar, horns, strings, and ensemble interplay. Piano anchors the music throughout, sometimes driving the melodic story forward and sometimes appearing from within the arrangement like an inner voice.
Like the classic progressive rock albums that first inspired Goldberg, CreateBecome invites the listener to surrender to the ride — not knowing exactly where the music will lead, but trusting the movement. The result is a musical journey through possibility, transformation, and becoming.
Tracklist
- Unbroken Chain — 7:10
- Essential Innocence — 2:10
- CreateBecome (I. Receive II. Infuse III. Release) — 7:57
- Chance Choice Change — 4:45
- Questions Like Blue Sky — 4:36
- Foolish Heart — 4:45
- On The Trail — 3:55
- Through It All (Reprise) — 1:14
- Grow Entangled — 5:20
- Wave Function Collapse — 4:55
- I Don’t Know Why — 3:26
Track Notes
Unbroken Chain — The Overture
A statement of continuity, resilience, and persistence. Unbroken Chain opens the album as a declaration that the journey continues — a thread of sound, energy, and transformation carried forward through time.
Essential Innocence — The Spark That Drives Us
A brief reflection on openness, wonder, and the courage of not knowing. Piano, acoustic bass, and drums create the sound of possibility — the moment before the first step.
CreateBecome — The Journey of Growth
The title piece moves through three stages: Receive, Infuse, and Release. It reflects the creative cycle from first inspiration, to active shaping, to surrendering the finished work into the world.
Chance Choice Change — The Engine of Growth
A musical meditation on the cycle of chance, choice, and change. The piece moves through recurring patterns and shifting themes, reflecting how decisions create motion and consequences open new possibilities.
Questions Like Blue Sky — Limitless Curiosity
A jazz-leaning piece about wonder, inquiry, and the horizon opened by asking questions. Playful, swinging, and exploratory, it moves from curiosity toward the realization that not every question needs an immediate answer.
Foolish Heart — The Courage of Feeling
A warm Latin-jazz turn in the album’s story. After questions, analysis, and evaluation, Foolish Heart reflects the moment when feeling becomes the guide and the heart becomes the compass.
On The Trail — The Journey of Pursuit
A piece about motion, decision, and following a path. Inspired by both hiking and the larger metaphor of pursuing a goal, On The Trail captures the energy of moving forward with purpose.
Through It All (Reprise) — The Journey of Survival
A short solo piano reflection on endurance, healing, and making it through difficult passages. The piece represents quiet resilience and the gratitude that follows survival.
Grow Entangled — The Journey of Connection
A climactic piece about interconnection, growth, and the web of relationships that shapes becoming. The instruments intertwine and build toward a rock-driven resolution, affirming connection as a source of transformation.
Wave Function Collapse — The Moment of Resolution
A progressive rock movement inspired by possibility becoming reality. The piece moves through uncertainty, convergence, decision, and realization, with piano, guitar, and ensemble textures shaping the path from potential to outcome.
I Don’t Know Why — The Answer in the Question
The closing reflection of the album. Rather than resolving every mystery, I Don’t Know Why accepts uncertainty and leaves space for the journey to continue. It answers Questions Like Blue Sky by finding peace in the questions themselves.
Credits
Alan Goldberg — keyboards
Jake Naugle — drums
Marcus Goldberg — guitar on Chance Choice Change, Questions Like Blue Sky, On The Trail, and Wave Function Collapse
Sebastián Greschuk — trumpet on Chance Choice Change, Questions Like Blue Sky, Grow Entangled, and Wave Function Collapse
Mark Morgan — trumpet on CreateBecome and On The Trail
Tito Planas — trombone on CreateBecome, Chance Choice Change, Foolish Heart, On The Trail, and Wave Function Collapse
Jeff Miguel — saxophone on Unbroken Chain and CreateBecome
Jerry Branting — saxophone on Foolish Heart
Jack Parry — saxophone on Grow Entangled
Mixed and mastered by François Michaud / Wild Horse Studio
Final mastering by Elliot James Mulhern
Cover art by John Staple, Taos, New Mexico
Label: Independent / Alan Goldberg Music
Location: Austin, Texas
Press Quotes
“Alan Goldberg is an artist with a creative and passionate taste for making cinematic musical pieces.”
— Ink19
“Overall, the whole record will leave you craving for more of Goldberg’s compelling and personal vision.”
— Ink19
“Alan Goldberg places a tremendous amount of passion and integrity into his music, and any fan of authentic jazz fusion will definitely connect with his mastery of composition and vibrant personality.”
— JazzCorner
Reviews, Interviews & Features
Big Takeover - Alan Goldberg - CreateBecome
V13.net- Alan Goldberg – ‘CreateBecome’ [Album Review]
Headstuff - CreateBecome Encapsulates Alan Goldberg’s Philosophy
Flyah Magazine - Alan Goldberg Music (A Jazzy Sensation we all can Love)
A feature and interview exploring Alan Goldberg’s music, background, and creative perspective.
Facets of Art — Interview
An interview touching on growth, creative development, and the themes behind Goldberg’s music.
Artist Bio
Alan Goldberg is an Austin-based composer and pianist creating instrumental music shaped by progressive rock, jazz fusion, contemporary classical textures, and the journey of becoming. Anchored by piano and expanded through ensemble writing, his music moves from intimate reflection to cinematic, emotionally expansive passages.
Goldberg’s roots reach back to classic progressive rock, jazz, blues, and the thrill of hearing an album unfold without knowing where it might lead. Influences such as The Who, Yes, Jethro Tull, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Chick Corea, Frank Zappa, and later progressive artists helped shape his desire to create music that feels exploratory, melodic, and alive.
Across his catalog, Goldberg uses melody, harmony, improvisation, and layered instrumentation to explore curiosity, transformation, resilience, and the creative process. His work often begins at the piano, then expands into a larger musical landscape through ensemble colors, guitar, horns, strings, rhythm, and motion.