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

. He has won four Grammy Awards and three Daytime Emmy Awards, and has received over twenty Grammy nominations for his compositions and arrangements.

Biography

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 an ...

chart, called "Hang Loose", when he was in the 7th grade. He continued his musical education at

Cal State Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...

with Joel Leach and Bill Calkins. Following graduation from college, Goodwin was employed as a musician at the

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, 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. Disney in ...

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 television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised fo ...

, including

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

and

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

. 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 Torme, 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, San Diego’s 88.3 FM.

Discography

* ''

Swingin' for the Fences ''Swingin' for the Fences'' is the debut album by Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, an 18-piece big band led by Gordon Goodwin. Goodwin composed the music except for "Two-Part Invention in D Minor", a jazz update of Johann Sebastian Bach, J. S. Bac ...

'' (Immergent, 2001) * '' XXL'' (Silverline, 2003) * ''

The Phat Pack ''The Phat Pack'' is the third studio album by the jazz ensemble Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band. Goodwin received a Grammy Award nomination for Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella, Best Instrumental Arrangement for the so ...

'' (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'' (

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 associ ...

, 2011) * ''

Life in the Bubble ''Life in the Bubble'' is an album by Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band that won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 2015. Goodwin won an additional Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement for his version of the song " On G ...

'' (Telarc, 2014) * ''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) Source:

Awards and honors

Goodwin has received many individual awards, including a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

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

The Incredibles ''The Incredibles'' is a 2004 American computer-animated superhero film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Written and directed by Brad Bird, it stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah V ...

.''

Grammy Awards

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

'' (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

* Music Direction and Composition, ''

Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American animated comedy musical television series created by Tom Ruegger for Fox Broadcasting Company's Fox Kids block in 1993, before moving to The WB in 1995, as part of its Kids' WB afternoon programming block, unti ...

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

Histeria! ''Histeria!'' is an American animated series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. Unlike other animated series produced by Warner Bros. in the 1990s, ''Histeria!'' was an explicitly educational program created to me ...

'' (2000)

Memberships

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

Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America (colloquially known as Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi Mu Alpha, or simply Sinfonia) () is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music. The fraternity is open to men "w ...

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