Gordon L. Goodwin (born December 30, 1954) is an American pianist, saxophonist, composer, arranger, and conductor. He is the leader of

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, or simply The Big Phat Band, is an 18-piece Orchestral jazz, jazz orchestra led by Gordon Goodwin that combines the big band swing of the 1930s and 1940s with contemporary music such as funk and jazz fusion. Since ...

. He has won three

Daytime Emmy Awards The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...

, four

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

, and 25 Grammy nominations for his compositions and arrangements.

Early life and education

Gordon Goodwin was born in Wichita, Kansas. He wrote his first

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 and ...

chart, called "Hang Loose", when he was in the seventh grade. He continued his musical education at

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as of Fall 2024), it has the ...

, with Joel Leach and Bill Calkins.

Career

Following graduation from college, Goodwin was employed as a musician at the

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...

theme park in Anaheim, California. Subsequently, Disney approached him to write a musical show featuring past and present

Mouseketeers ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety show, variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and briefly returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by The Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney ...

, including

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

and

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...

. Since then, Goodwin has risen to prominence in the American studio music scene with his big band, The Big Phat Band. He has written and worked with artists like Ray Charles; Christina Aguilera; Johnny Mathis; John Williams; Natalie Cole; David Foster; Sarah Vaughan; Mel Tormé; Leslie Odom, Jr.; Idina Menzel; Lang Lang; and Quincy Jones, to name a few. Goodwin is the host of a nationally syndicated jazz radio program called ''Phat Tracks with Gordon Goodwin'', also airing weekends on

KSDS KSDS (88.3 FM, "Jazz 88.3") is a full-time mainstream/traditional Jazz radio station, licensed to the San Diego Community College District, broadcasting 24 hours a day from the campus of San Diego City College. The station is owned by City C ...

, San Diego's 88.3 FM.

Discography

* '' Swingin' for the Fences'' (Immergent, 2001) * '' XXL'' (Silverline, 2003) * '' The Phat Pack'' (Silverline, 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 ''That's How We Roll'' is the fifth studio album by Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, released on April 12, 2011. It features the title track, "That's How We Roll", the Grammy-nominated "Hunting Wabbits 3 (Get Off My Lawn)", and the Grammy-winnin ...

'' (

Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long assoc ...

, 2011) * '' Life in the Bubble'' (Telarc, 2014) * ''Wrap This! A Big Phat Christmas'' (Music of Content, 2015) *''The Gordian Knot'' (Music of Content, 2019) *''The Gordian Knot (Dolby Atmos Release)'' (Music of Content, 2020) *''The Reset'' (Music of Content, 2021)

Awards and honors

Goodwin has received many individual awards, including a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best Instrumental Arrangement for his work on the feature film ''

The Incredibles ''The Incredibles'' is a 2004 American animated superhero film written and directed by Brad Bird. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, the film stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer ...

.''

Grammy Awards

* Best Instrumental Arrangement: "The Incredits" (2005), "Rhapsody in Blue" (2011), "On Green Dolphin Street" (2013) * Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album: '' Life in the Bubble'' (2014)

Grammy Award nominations

* Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album: '' XXL'' (2003), '' Act Your Age'' (2008) * Best Instrumental Composition: "Sing, Sang, Sung" (2000), "Hunting Wabbits" (2003), "Hit the Ground Running" (2008), "Hunting Wabbits 3 (Get Off My Lawn)" (2011), "California Pictures for String Quartet" (2013), "Life in the Bubble" (2014) * Best Instrumental Arrangement: "Bach 2 Part Invention in D Minor" (2000), "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" (2006), "Yo Tannenbaum" (2007), "Yesterdays" (2008), "Salt Peanuts! (Mani Salado)" (2012) * Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s): "Comes Love" (2003) * Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella: "Get Smart" (2014) * Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals: "Party Rockers" (2014), "Do You Hear What I Hear?" (2016) * Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals: "I Loves You Porgy" / "There's A Boat That's Leavin' Soon For New York" (2017) Source:

Daytime Emmy Awards

* Outstanding Music Direction and Composition, ''

Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American Animated series, animated Comedy television, comedy Musical film, musical television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company ...

'' (1998, 1999) * Outstanding Music Direction and Composition, '' Histeria!'' (2000)

Memberships

* Goodwin was initiated into the men's music fraternity,

Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (legally Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, colloquially known as Phi Mu Alpha, PMA, or simply Sinfonia) () is an American collegiate social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity for men with a special interest ...

, as a National Honorary member and was made a Signature Sinfonian at the 55th National Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, 2015.

Early life and education

Career

Discography

Awards and honors

Grammy Awards

Grammy Award nominations

Daytime Emmy Awards

Memberships

See also

References

External links

Further reading