Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, or simply The Big Phat Band, is an 18-piece jazz orchestra that combines the

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

swing of the 1930s and 1940s with contemporary music such as

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mi ...

and

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and ke ...

. The band is led by

Gordon Goodwin Gordon L. Goodwin (born 1954) is an American pianist, saxophonist, composer, arranger, and conductor. He is the leader of Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band. He has won four Grammy Awards and three Daytime Emmy Awards, and has received over twenty ...

, who arranges, composes, plays piano and saxophone. Since its origin, the Big Phat Band has received several Grammy Awards and many Grammy nominations. Its first album, '' Swingin' for the Fences'', was the first recording released on

DVD-Audio DVD-Audio (commonly abbreviated as DVD-A) is a digital format for delivering high-fidelity audio content on a DVD. DVD-Audio uses most of the storage on the disc for high-quality audio and is not intended to be a video delivery format. The st ...

and the first DVD-Audio to be nominated for two Grammy Awards. When he founded the Big Phat Band in 1999, Goodwin was working in Hollywood as a composer for Warner Brothers cartoons. His first attraction to big band music was at the age of 13 when he heard

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

Band members

Gordon Goodwin - Leader/Piano/Saxophone

Saxophones/Woodwinds

* Eric Marienthal – 1st

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B t ...

soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, so ...

piccolo The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the s ...

/ flute * Sal Lozano – 2nd alto saxophone / piccolo / flute / clarinet * Brian Scanlon – 1st

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

/ clarinet / flute * Jeff Driskill – 2nd tenor saxophone / clarinet / flute * Jay Mason –

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contrab ...

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave ...

/ flute

Trumpets

* Wayne Bergeron – 1st trumpet * Dan Fornero – 2nd (split lead) trumpet * Mike Rocha – 3rd trumpet * Dan Savant – 4th trumpet

Trombones

Andy Martin Anthony Robert Martin-Trigona, usually known as Andy Martin (born 1945), is an American perennial candidate who has never been elected to office, running as both a Democrat and a Republican. He has filed over 250 political lawsuits nationwide ...

– 1st trombone * Charlie Morillas – 2nd trombone * Francisco Torres – 3rd trombone * Craig Gosnell –

bass trombone The bass trombone (german: Bassposaune, it, trombone basso) is the bass instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments. Modern instruments are pitched in the same B♭ as the tenor trombone but with a larger bore, bell and mouthpiece to ...

Rhythm section

* Gordon Goodwin – piano * Will Brahm – guitar * Kevin Axt – bass * Ray Brinker – drums * Joey DeLeon – percussion

Temporary players

Dan Higgins Dan Higgins (born January 28, 1957 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American saxophone and woodwind player. He has worked with such artists as John Williams, Seth MacFarlane, Aerosmith, Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond, Al Jarreau, Maroon 5, Kenny Loggin ...

– 1st alto saxophone ('' Swingin' for the Fences'') * Ray Brinker – drums *

Grant Geissman Grant Geissman (born April 13, 1953) is an American jazz guitarist and Emmy-nominated composer. He has recorded extensively for several labels since 1976 and played guitar on the theme for ''Monk'' and other TV series. Career Geissman was born i ...

– guitar (''Swingin' for the Fences'', ''XXL'', ''The Phat Pack'', ''Act Your Age'') * Carl Verheyen – guitar *

Luis Conte Luis Conte (born 16 November 1954) is a Cuban percussionist best-known for his performances in the bands of artists including James Taylor, Madonna, Pat Metheny Group, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart and Shakira. He began ...

– percussion * Dennis Farias- 1st trumpet (Sing Sang Sung)

Previous Players

Bernie Dresel Bernard John Dresel Jr. (born November 12, 1961) is an American studio drummer and percussionist. He has been with multi-Grammy award-winning artists and recordings; most notably having performed and recorded extensively with The Brian Setzer Orc ...

- Drums * Bob Summers - Trumpet * Craig Ware - Bass Trombone * Colin Meyer - Trombone *

Alex Iles Alexander Iles is an American trombonist who teaches at the California Institute of the Arts, Azusa Pacific University, and California State University, Northridge. He has toured as lead and solo jazz trombonist with Maynard Ferguson, with whom h ...

- Trombone * Willie Murillo - Trumpet * Andrew Synowick - Guitar

Featured soloists

Arturo Sandoval Arturo Sandoval is a Cuban-American jazz trumpeter, pianist, and composer. While living in his native Cuba, Sandoval was influenced by jazz musicians Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, and Dizzy Gillespie. In 1977 he met Gillespie, who became his f ...

Brian McKnight Brian Kelly McKnight (born June 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, radio host and multi-instrumentalist. He is most recognized for his strong head voice, high belting range and melisma. McKnight is known for h ...

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", " 500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and ...

Dave Grusin Robert David "Dave" Grusin (born June 26, 1934) is an American composer, arranger, producer, jazz pianist, and band leader. He has composed many scores for feature films and television, and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record w ...

, Dave Siebels,

David Sanborn David William Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album ''Taking Off'' in 19 ...

, Dianne Reeves,

Eddie Daniels Eddie Daniels (born October 19, 1941) is an American musician and composer. Although he is best known as a jazz clarinetist, he has also played saxophone and flute as well as classical music on clarinet. Early life, family and education Daniel ...

, James Morrison,

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

Judith Hill Judith Glory Hill is an American singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California. She has provided backing vocals for such artists as Michael Jackson, Prince, and Josh Groban. In 2009, Hill was chosen as Jackson's duet partner for the song "I Just ...

Lee Ritenour Lee Mack Ritenour ( ; born January 11, 1952) is an American jazz guitarist who has been active since the late 1960s. Biography Ritenour was born on January 11, 1952, in Los Angeles, California, United States. At the age of eight he started play ...

Marcus Miller William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandros ...

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of M ...

Nathan East Nathan Harrell East (born December 8, 1955) is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass player and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts deg ...

, Nikko Paolo Silangcruz,

Patti Austin Patti Austin (born August 10, 1950) is an American R&B, pop, and jazz singer and songwriter. Music career Austin was born in Harlem, New York, to Gordon Austin, a jazz trombonist. She was raised in Bay Shore, New York on Long Island. Quincy ...

, Romain Guyot, Take 6

Discography

* '' Swingin' for the Fences'' (Silverline, 2000) * '' XXL'' (Silverline, 2003) * '' The Phat Pack'' (Immergent, 2006) * ''Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas'' (Immergent, 2006) * '' Act Your Age'' (Immergent, 2008) * '' Dave Siebels With: Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band'' (PBGL, 2009) * '' That's How We Roll'' (

Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner (recording engineer), Jack Renner and Robert Woods (producer), Robert Woods. ...

, 2011) * '' Life in the Bubble'' (Telarc, 2014) * ''Wrap This!'' (Music of Content, 2015) * ''The Gordian Knot'' (Music of Content, 2019) * '' The Reset'' (Music of Content, 2021)

Awards and honors

Grammy Awards

* Best Instrumental Arrangement – "On Green Dolphin Street" (2014) *

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album The Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album has been presented since 1961. From 1962 to 1971 and 1979 to 1991 the award title specified instrumental performances. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were presented, for works ...

, '' Life in the Bubble'' (2016)

Grammy Award nominations

* Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album – '' XXL'' (2003), '' Act Your Age'' (2008) * Best Instrumental Composition – "Hunting Wabbits", (2003), "Hit the Ground Running" (2008), "Hunting Wabbits 3 (Get off my Lawn)" (2012) * Best Instrumental Arrangement – "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" (2006), "Yo Tannenbaum" (2007), "Yesterdays" (2008), "Rhapsody in Blue" (2012), "Party Rockers" (2015) * Best Instrumental Arrangement with Vocals – "Comes Love" with

and Take 6 (2003)

Other awards

* Surround Sound Award, "Best Made for Surround Sound Title", ''XXL'' (2003)

References

External links

Official site

{{Authority control American jazz ensembles from California Musical groups from Los Angeles Grammy Award winners Big bands Jazz musicians from California