George Coleridge Emerson Goode (29 November 1914 – 2 October 2015) was a British Jamaican-born

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

best known for his long collaboration with

alto saxophonist 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 the key of E, smaller tha ...

Joe Harriott Joseph Arthurlin Harriott (15 July 1928 – 2 January 1973) was a Jamaican jazz musician and composer, whose principal instrument was the alto saxophone. According to George McKay in ''Circular Breathing: The Cultural Politics of Jazz in Britai ...

. Goode was a member of Harriott's innovatory jazz

quintet A quintet is a group containing five members. It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single ...

throughout its eight-year existence as a regular unit (1958–65). Goode was also involved with the saxophonist's later pioneering blend of jazz and

Indian music Owing to India's vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk, rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed over several ...

in Indo-Jazz Fusions, the group Harriott co-led with composer/violinist

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-liv ...

Biography

Goode was born in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

, Jamaica. His father was a choirmaster and organist who promoted classical choral music in Jamaica and his mother sang in the choir. As Goode recalled: "My name comes from my father putting on a performance of

Samuel Coleridge Taylor Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (15 August 18751 September 1912) was a British composer and conductor. He was particularly known for his The Song of Hiawatha (Coleridge-Taylor), three cantatas on the epic 1855 poem ''The Song of Hiawatha'' by Am ...

's '' Hiawatha's Wedding Feast'' as a tribute to him.... I was born a year after.""Coleridge Goode, double-bass player - obituary"
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', 15 October 2015. Goode came to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

in 1934 as a 19-year-old student at the Royal Technical College in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

(later the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...

), and then went on to read for a degree in

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

. He was already proficient as an amateur classical

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist but turned to jazz and took up the bass after hearing the music of such stars as

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 ...

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

and

Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the King ...

. Abandoning his plans to return to

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

to work as an engineer, Goode decided to embark upon a musical career. His primary early influences as a bassist were

Walter Page Walter Sylvester Page (February 9, 1900 – December 20, 1957) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist and bandleader, best known for his groundbreaking work as a double bass player with Walter Page's Blue Devils and the Count Basie Orchest ...

Slam Stewart Leroy Eliot "Slam" Stewart (September 21, 1914December 10, 1987) was an American jazz double-bass player whose trademark style was his ability to bow the bass (arco) and simultaneously hum or sing an octave higher. He was a violinist before swit ...

and

Jimmy Blanton James Blanton (October 5, 1918 – July 30, 1942) was an American jazz double bassist. Blanton is credited with being the originator of more complex pizzicato and arco bass solos in a jazz context than previous bassists. Nicknamed "Jimmie," Blant ...

. Moving to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1942, Goode subsequently worked with

Johnny Claes Octave John Claes (; 11 August 1916 – 3 February 1956) was a British-born racing driver who competed for Belgium. Before his fame as a racing driver, Claes was also a jazz trumpeter and successful bandleader in Britain. Early life and jazz ...

, Eric Winstone, Lauderic Caton and

Dick Katz Richard Aaron Katz (March 13, 1924 – November 10, 2009) was an American jazz pianist, arranger and record producer. He freelanced throughout much of his career, and worked in a number of ensembles. He co-founded Milestone Records in 1966 with O ...

, became a founder member of the

Ray Ellington Henry Pitts Brown (17 March 1916 – 27 February 1985), known professionally as Ray Ellington, was an English singer, drummer and bandleader. He is best known for his appearances on ''The Goon Show'' from 1951 to 1960. The Ray Ellington Quartet ...

Quartet and recorded with

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani people, Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Belgium, Belgian-born Romani jazz guitarist and composer in France. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe ...

in 1946, alongside

Stephane Grappelli Stephane may refer to: * Stéphane, a French given name * Stephane (headdress) A stephane (''ancient Greek'' στέφανος, from ''στέφω'' (stéphō, “I encircle”), '' Lat.'' Stephanus = wreath, decorative wreath worn on the head; cr ...

.John Stevenson
"Coleridge Goode obituary"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 11 October 2015. Later Goode played in Tito Burns' sextet and led his own group, before being invited to join Harriott's new band in 1958. In 1967 he recorded with

Chris McGregor Christopher McGregor (24 December 1936 – 26 May 1990) was a South African jazz pianist, bandleader and composer born in Somerset West, South Africa. Early influences McGregor grew up in the then Transkei (now part of the Eastern Cape Prov ...

Dudu Pukwana Mthutuzeli Dudu Pukwana (18 July 1938 – 30 June 1990) was a South African saxophonist and composer. Early years in South Africa Dudu Pukwana was born in Walmer, Port Elizabeth, Walmer Township, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He grew up studyin ...

, Ronnie Beer, and

Laurie Allan Laurie Allan (born 19 February 1943) is an English drummer, best known for stints in Delivery and Gong. Biography Allan started drumming when he was 12. His professional career got going in the early 1960s. He was in The First Real Poetry Ba ...

on Gwigwi Mrwebi's ''Mbaqanga Songs''. During the 1960s and 1970s, Goode worked extensively with pianist/composer

Michael Garrick Michael Garrick (30 May 1933 – 11 November 2011)Peter VacheObituary: Michael Garrick ''The Guardian'', 15 November 2011 was an English jazz pianist and composer, and a pioneer in mixing jazz with poetry recitations and in the use of jazz in ...

. Goode was still performing in the house band at Laurie Morgan's Sunday jam sessions at the King's Head in

Crouch End Crouch End is an area of North London, England, from the City of London in the western half of the borough of Haringey. It is within the Hornsey postal district (N8). It has been described as one of "a new breed of urban villages" in London ...

into his 90s. One of the finest jazz bassists who has worked in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, Goode is an important link to a proud heritage of

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

contributions to the music. His achievements through a long career have been an important inspiration for some leading contemporary black British jazz musicians. In 2002, his

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

''Bass Lines: A Life in Jazz'', co-authored with his friend, the academic and jazz writer Roger Cotterrell, not only told his own story but provided poignant and vivid memories of the brilliant and tragic Harriott and of the birth of

free form jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

in Britain.John Stevenson
"Coleridge Goode: Bassist and singer who played with Grappelli and Reinhardt"
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 23 October 2015.

Awards and recognition

On 18 May 2011, Goode was honoured with the Services to Jazz Award at the

Parliamentary Jazz Awards The Parliamentary Jazz Awards in the United Kingdom are organised by the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group (APPJAG) at the Houses of Parliament in London. The group consists of over a hundred members drawn from across the UK politica ...

, held at the House of Commons. In 2014, the year Goode celebrated turning 100, a special performance was organised for him at the

London Jazz Festival The London Jazz Festival is a music festival held every November. It takes place in London venues such as the Barbican and the Royal Festival Hall and in smaller jazz clubs, such as Ronnie Scott's and the Vortex Jazz Club. It is produced by Se ...

, led by Gary Crosby. Goode died the following year, on 2 October 2015."RIP Coleridge Goode"
, Marlbank, 5 October 2015.

Personal life

In 1944, Goode married Gertrude Selmeczi, a Jewish refugee from

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria, of Hungarian origin; the marriage, lasting 70 years until her death aged 96 in June 2015, produced a daughter Sandy and son James.

Discography

With

* ''Promises'' (Argo, 1965) * ''Anthem'' (Argo, 1965) * ''October Woman'' (Argo, 1965) * ''Jazz Praises'' (Airborne, 1968) * ''A Jazz Cantata'' (Erase, 1969) * ''The Heart Is a Lotus'' (Argo, 1970) * ''Mr Smith's Apocalypse'' (Argo, 1971) * ''Troppo'' (Argo, 1974) * ''Rising Stars'' with

Shake Keane Ellsworth McGranahan "Shake" Keane (30 May 1927 – 11 November 1997) was a Vincentian jazz musician and poet. He is best known today for his role as a jazz trumpeter, principally his work as a member of the ground-breaking Joe Harriott Quinte ...

(Trunk, 2011) * ''Prelude to Heart Is a Lotus'' (Gearbox, 2013) With

* '' Southern Horizons'' (Jazzland, 1960) * '' Free Form'' (Jazzland, 1961) * '' Abstract'' (Columbia, 1963) * '' Movement'' (Columbia, 1964) * '' High Spirits'' (Columbia, 1965) * ''Indo Jazz Suite'' (Columbia, 1966) * ''Indo Jazz Fusions'' (Columbia, 1967) * ''Indo Jazz Fusions II'' (Columbia, 1968) * ''Swings High'' (Melodisc, 1970) * ''Journey'' (Moonlight Tunes, 2011) With others *

, ''The Three Bears'' (Avid, 2000) * Jade Warrior, ''Kites'' (Island, 1976) *

, ''That's the Noise'' (Ace of Clubs, 1967) *

, ''Etudes'' (Sonet, 1969) * John Mayer, ''Indo Jazz Fusions'' (Somethin' Else, 1969) *

, ''Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grappelly with the Quintet of the Hot Club of France'' (Ace of Clubs/Decca, 1964) * Django Reinhardt, ''Django's Music'' (Pathe, 1974)

References

External links