Gordon Goodwin

born in 1954 in Neal, KS, United States

Gordon Goodwin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Gordon L. Goodwin (born 1954) is a Grammy-award winning American studio pianist, saxophonist, composer, arranger and conductor. He now lives in Southern California with his wife Lisa, daughter Madison and two sons, Trevor and Garrison.

Early years

Gordon Goodwin was born in Neal, Kansas.

Gordon Goodwin wrote his first big band chart, called "Hang Loose", when he was in the 7th grade. He continued his musical education at Cal State Northridge with Joel Leach and Bill Calkins. Following graduation from college, Goodwin was employed as a musician at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California. Subsequently, Disney approached him to write a musical show featuring past and present Mouseketeers, including Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.[1] Goodwin was later recruited by Louie Bellson's big band, where he played with the likes of Pete Christlieb and Don Menza. He went on to play under Les Hooper and Grant Geissman.

Big Phat Band

Since then, Goodwin has risen to prominence in the American studio music scene with his big band, The Big Phat Band.[2] In the band, Goodwin plays piano and occasionally both the soprano and tenor saxophone. This band brings together the talents of such players as Wayne Bergeron, Eric Marienthal and Andy Martin. These detailed music charts are all written or adapted by Gordon Goodwin. Several of his songs are plays on old jazz tunes: a prime example is "Sing, Sang, Sung" which mimics the famous Louis Prima song "Sing, Sing, Sing". Under Goodwin's direction, the band has released six albums: "Swingin' For the Fences", which received two Grammy nominations, and "XXL", which received three. "The Phat Pack" was released on June 13, 2006, and "Bah, Humduck! a Looney Tunes Christmas (Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture)" was also released in 2006. "Act Your Age", was released on September 30, 2008. "That's How We Roll" was released on April 12, 2011. Goodwin won the 2012 Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement for his Arrangement of George Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue. Their most recent album, "Life in the Bubble" is pending release on May 13, 2014.

Gordon Goodwin's music with the Big Phat Band is distributed by Telarc International and Silverline Records.

Popular culture

As a film scorer, Goodwin has worked on such films as The Majestic, Glory Road, National Treasure, Remember the Titans, Armageddon, Star Trek: Nemesis, The Incredibles, Hot Rod, Get Smart, Snakes on a Plane, Race to Witch Mountain, Coach Carter, Bad Boys II, Con Air, Gone in 60 Seconds, the classic cult film Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, and Enemy of the State. His work in television includes music for the TV series Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Tom and Jerry, Histeria!, Road Rovers, and Freakazoid!. His recording history includes performances with artists as diverse as Mel Tormé, Ray Charles and Christina Aguilera. Goodwin himself has received many individual awards, including a recent Grammy for Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement for his work on the feature film The Incredibles.[2] He is also a three time Emmy winner.

Goodwin has also been a guest conductor for such groups as the London Symphony Orchestra and Seattle Symphony Orchestra. Goodwin composed the original soundtrack for the Haunted Mansion Holiday, a Nightmare Before Christmas inspired twist on the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland. This was later replaced by a soundtrack composed by John Debney, but some of his score remains there today.

Sheet music

His music is published by companies such as Hal Leonard, Alfred Publishing [1], and Walrus Music.

Discography

The Big Phat Band has six albums currently released:

  • Swingin' For The Fences (Released January 23, 2001)
  • XXL (Released September 23, 2003)
  • The Phat Pack (Released June 13, 2006)
  • Bah, Humduck! a Looney Tunes Christmas (Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture) (November 14, 2006)
  • Act Your Age (Released September 30, 2008)
  • That's How We Roll (Released April 12, 2011)
  • Grade 3 featured on the Shine On! Volume One album along with Tierney Sutton. (Released September 30, 2011)
  • Play With Me featured on the Shine On! Volume One album along with Amber Lily. (Released September 30, 2011)[3]
  • Life in the Bubble (Released May 13, 2014)

See also

  • List of jazz arrangers

References

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External links

  • Gordon Goodwin at the Internet Movie Database
  • Gordon Goodwin at allmusic.com
  • Gordon Goodwin, Author, at Alfred Music Publishing
This page was last modified 04.05.2014 14:11:06

This article uses material from the article Gordon Goodwin from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.