Small Acts EPK
20th Anniversary Edition
Artist: Alan Goldberg
Label: Independent / Alan Goldberg Music
Release Date: Released November 1, 2021
Genre:Solo Piano Original Improvisation
/ Instrumental
Release Overview
Small Acts – 20th Anniversary Edition is a solo piano collection by Alan Goldberg, originally released in 2001 and revisited twenty years later with new perspective, updated sound, and additional music.
The album began as eleven spontaneously improvised piano pieces, each recorded with a specific intention: a “small act” of desire, awareness, and personal transformation. For the 20th Anniversary Edition, Goldberg returned to the original recordings, remixed and remastered them with modern tools, and added three new pieces recorded in the same spirit of spontaneous intention.
About the Album
Small Acts began as a collection of solo piano pieces recorded in 2001, each one representing a small act Alan Goldberg could take to make himself — and perhaps a small part of the world — better.
Before recording the original pieces, Goldberg approached the music with ritual and intention. He fasted, meditated, and sought to let go, allowing creativity to flow with as little interference as possible. His contribution was not to control the music, but to bring yearning, desire, and presence to the moment of performance.
The result is a collection of solo piano music that moves through a wide emotional range: prayer-like melodies, urgent improvisations, reflective passages, and flowing progressive piano segments. Over time, listeners have used the music for yoga, meditation, guided imagery, spiritual exploration, pre-Sabbath reflection, and other inward practices.
Goldberg does not think of Small Acts as simple “mantra music.” Its undercurrent of yearning gives it a more active quality — music suited for inner movement, questing, and exploration.
The 20th Anniversary Edition gave Goldberg the opportunity to revisit the original material with the benefit of time, experience, and new technology. The remix and remaster brought clarity and warmth to the MIDI-based recordings, revealing details that had been hidden or unheard for years.
The anniversary edition also includes three newer pieces — Remembering, Listening Well, and Fixing It — recorded in the same spontaneous style and with the same intention of desire. Together, they extend the original collection while showing the growth that comes from twenty years of living, listening, and becoming.
Tracklist
1. The First of Everything (2021 Remaster) — 6:03
2. Just Being There (2021 Remaster) — 4:58
3. Butterfly Wings (2021 Remaster) — 4:32
4. Give a Little Extra (2021 Remaster) — 5:39
5. One for Tull (2021 Remaster) — 4:11
6. Waiting Up (2021 Remaster) — 3:19
7. Keeping a Promise (2021 Remaster) — 6:44
8. Going for Coffee (2021 Remaster) — 5:19
9. Late Night Walk (2021 Remaster) — 3:41
10. A Wish (2021 Remaster) — 5:09
11. Said and Done (2021 Remaster) — 4:08
12. Remembering (Bonus Track) — 4:45
13. Listening Well (Bonus Track) — 3:10
14. Fixing It (Bonus Track) — 3:49
Track Notes
TRACK NOTES
Small Acts
The original idea behind Small Acts is simple but meaningful: a small act of intention, presence, care, and desire expressed through spontaneous solo piano. Each piece reflects the possibility that quiet gestures — listening, remembering, wishing well, keeping a promise, repairing what can be repaired, or simply being present — can carry real importance.
Late Night Walk
Late Night Walk is one of the central pieces in the Small Acts story. The concept for the album first came to Goldberg during a late night walk, a small act of reflection, peace, and inner movement that opened the door to the larger collection.
The piece carries that feeling of solitude and gentle motion — the calm that can come from walking, thinking, listening inward, and letting useful thoughts appear.
Remembering
Remembering is one of the newer anniversary pieces, recorded years after the original Small Acts sessions in the same spirit of spontaneous intention. It reflects one of the small acts that had become more important with time: honoring the people, moments, lessons, joys, difficulties, and experiences that shape a life.
Remembering may seem quiet, but it becomes one of the essential ways we hold what has mattered and carry it forward.
Listening Well
Listening Well is centered on attention, presence, and care. Being physically present is not the same as truly listening; listening well requires sustained attention, receptivity, patience, and the willingness to take in what is being said before responding.
As a small act, listening well can strengthen connection, build understanding, and become a meaningful form of care.
Fixing It
Fixing It reflects the practical and emotional work of repair. Over the years between the original album and the anniversary edition, life included young family years, broken objects, changing technology, passwords, work problems, and the deeper internal work of understanding what needed attention.
Some fixes are not so small, but the first small act is the willingness to turn toward what is broken, understand it, and begin the work of repair. In that spirit, Fixing It takes its place in the collection as a piece about responsibility, patience, service, and growth.
Credits
Alan Goldberg — solo piano
Mixed and mastered by François Michaud / Wild Horse Studio, France
Label: Independent / Alan Goldberg Music
Original release: 2001
20th Anniversary Edition released November 1, 2021
Press Quotes
“Alan Goldberg is an artist with a creative and passionate taste for making cinematic musical pieces.”
— 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
JazzCorner — Interview
An origin-story interview discussing Alan Goldberg’s musical background, influences, and development as an artist.
Read Interview
Facets of Art — Interview
An interview exploring growth, creative development, and the themes behind Goldberg’s music.
Read Interview
Ink19 — Review / Feature
A review highlighting Goldberg’s cinematic musical vision and personal compositional voice.
Read Article
Artist Bio
Alan Goldberg is an Austin-based composer and pianist creating instrumental music shaped by progressive rock, jazz fusion, blues, 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.
Small Acts reflects one of the most direct expressions of Goldberg’s piano-centered approach: spontaneous performance shaped by intention, yearning, and inner exploration. Across his catalog, Goldberg uses melody, harmony, improvisation, and layered instrumentation to explore curiosity, transformation, resilience, and the creative process.