Joel Goodman is an American film
composer, music business entrepreneur and educator.
His work has appeared at every major film festival in the world and includes scores to films and television programs that have received 5 Oscar nominations, 20 Emmy awards and over 30 Emmy nominations. Prior to scoring films, Goodman composed music for advertising and produced records, including those for
Chuck Mangione
Charles Frank Mangione ( ; born November 29, 1940) is an American flugelhorn player, voice actor, trumpeter and composer.
He came to prominence as a member of Art Blakey's band in the 1960s, and later co-led the Jazz Brothers with his brother ...
,
[Everything for Love - Chuck Mangione : Credits : AllMusic]
/ref> Livingston Taylor
Livingston Taylor (born November 21, 1950) is an American singer-songwriter and folk musician. Born in Boston and raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, he is the brother of singer-songwriter James Taylor, singer-songwriter Kate Taylor, singer ...
[Ink - Livingston Taylor : Credits : AllMusic ]
/ref> and Carla Lother.[Ephemera - Carla Lother : Credits : AllMusic]
/ref> In 1999, he founded the record labe
Museum Music
ref name=inkandescen
Spotlight On: Joel Goodman, composer & founder, MusicBox — Los Angeles
/ref> and in 2002 co-founded the music licensing and publishing compan
MusicBox
[MusicBox Bios]
/ref> Goodman conducts university master classes in the US and Europe, is a regular panelist for such organizations as ASCAP, IFP, AFI
AFI may refer to:
* ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol
* Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer
* AFI (band), an American rock band
** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...
and SCL amongst others, and currently serves on the board of th
Production Music Association
[About the PMA - Board Members]
/ref> where he is the Chairman of the Performing Rights Committee.
Early life
Goodman was born in Brooklyn, NY and grew up in Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, where he learned to play his first instrument (the trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
) from the legendary public school music educator Allen Stier. He attended high school in Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
at The High School of Music & Art
The High School of Music & Art, informally known as "Music & Art" (or "M&A"), was a public specialized high school located at 443-465 West 135th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York, from 1936 until 1984. In 1961, Music & Art and the High ...
,[Documentary Craft: Interview with Composer Joel Goodman]
/ref> studying jazz wit
Justin DiCioccio
and orchestral performance with Sydney Baker while taking private bass lessons from Rich Samalin an
Ken Smith
As a result, Goodman played trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
in the orchestra, and wrote arrangements and played bass for his high school jazz band. Some notable classmates of Goodman's include Charley Drayton
Charles Leslie Drayton (born May 9, 1965) is an American multi-instrumentalist and producer, known primarily as a drummer. Artists he has recorded or performed with include The Cult, Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones, Paul Simon, Neil Young, Mi ...
, Bernard Wright
Bernard Wright (November 16, 1963 – May 19, 2022) was an American funk and jazz keyboardist and singer who began his career as a session musician and later released four solo albums.
Biography
Wright was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York. I ...
, Sterling Campbell
Tony Mangurian
Larry Aberman
Erik Sanko
Erik Sanko (born 27 September 1963) is a bass player from New York who has played in The Lounge Lizards and currently active in Skeleton Key.
Biography
In the past he also worked with notable musicians including Marc Ribot, John Cale, Yoko Ono, ...
Eric Rosenberg
Roey Shamir
and Marcus Rojas
Marcus Rojas (born February 23, 1963) is an American Tuba, tubist from New York City.
Early life
Rojas was born in New York City on February 23, 1963, and grew up in Red Hook, Brooklyn. His early influences included Eddie Palmieri, Willie Coló ...
.
Berklee College of Music
Goodman attended the Berklee College of Music as a double major focusing on both bass performance and jazz composition and arranging. This gave him the opportunity to study with such greats as Herb Pomeroy
Irving Herbert Pomeroy III (April 15, 1930 – August 11, 2007) was an American jazz trumpeter, teacher, and the founder of the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble.
Early life
Pomeroy was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, United States. He began playing ...
, Michael Gibbs, Bob Freedman, John LaPorta, Gary Burton
Gary Burton (born January 23, 1943) is an American jazz vibraphonist, composer, and educator. Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused him to be he ...
, John Abercrombie, Jerry Bergonzi
Jerry Bergonzi (born October 21, 1947) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and educator.
Early life and education
Bergonzi received a B.A. in Music Education from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 1971 and is the founde ...
, Steve Swallow
Steve Swallow (born October 4, 1940) is an American jazz bassist and composer, known for his collaborations with Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton, and Carla Bley. He was one of the first jazz double bassists to switch entirely to electric bass guitar.
...
an
Bruce Gertz
It was during this time that Goodman joined the jazz/world/fusion band Ananda founded by composer and guitaris
Their first album, titled ''Amazonia'', was recorded for the record label Sonic Atmospheres and was produced by Craig Huxley. The band toured regularly in the Northeastern United States and occasionally included appearances by Ralph Towner
Ralph Towner (born March 1, 1940) is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and bandleader. He plays the twelve-string guitar, classical guitar, piano, synthesizer, percussion, trumpet and French horn.
Biography
Towner was born i ...
as a member of the live band.
Early career
After graduating from Berklee
Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...
in 1984, Goodman moved back to New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
and began his music career as a live and studio session bassist. In 1991 he became a staff composer for the music production hous
North Forty Music
where he composed music for hundreds of major national television advertisements including those for American Express, Budweiser
Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, part of AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States.
''Budweiser'' may also refer to an unrela ...
, IBM, Gatorade and Procter & Gamble
The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...
. Goodman worked at North Forty Music until 1999, when he left to pursue composing for film full-time.
Record producer
Beginning in 1996, Goodman produced 4 records for the acclaimed audiophile record label Chesky Records
Chesky Records is a record company and label founded in 1978 by brothers David and Norman Chesky. The company produces high-definition recordings of music in a variety of genres, including jazz, classical, pop, R&B, folk and world/ethnic. Che ...
.
Composer for film
Goodman's first score, for a documentary film called ''My Knees Were Jumping'', came about by a chance meeting with an old high school friend on the streets of New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 1996 and opened the door for many more film scoring opportunities to come.
While the music was being mixed into the film prior to its release, another film producer in the studio next door came in to inquire about the music, and this ultimately led to Goodman's next scoring project. ''Green Chimneys'' premiered at the Sundance Film Festival the following year. When the editor from ''Green Chimneys'' was hired to edit the Albert Maysles film ''Concert of Wills: Building the Getty Center'', Goodman was asked to provide the music - an opportunity that played an important role in his subsequent founding of Museum Music.
Goodman has since gone on to score over 100 films, and has collaborated with many distinguished directors and producers including Wong Kar-wai
Wong Kar-wai (born 17 July 1958) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films are characterised by nonlinear narratives, atmospheric music, and vivid cinematography involving bold, saturated colours. A pivotal figure ...
, Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles before gaining a leading man status in film and television. Spacey has received various accolade ...
, Albert Maysles
Albert Maysles (November 26, 1926 – March 5, 2015) and his brother David Maysles (January 10, 1931 – January 3, 1987; ) were an American documentary filmmaking team known for their work in the Direct Cinema style. Their best-known films i ...
, Andrew Jarecki, Barbara Kopple
Barbara Kopple (born July 30, 1946) is an American film director known primarily for her documentary work.
She has won two Academy Awards, the first in 1977 for '' Harlan County, USA'', about a Kentucky miners' strike, /sup> and the second in ...
Mark Zwonitzer
Michael Epstein
Oren Jacoby
Oren Jacoby is a director and producer of documentary films including; '' Shadowman (2017),'' '' My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes'' (2014), '' Lafayette: The Lost Hero''(2010), '' Constantine's Sword'' (2008), ''Sister Rose's Passion'' (200 ...
, Irene Taylor Brodsky
Irene Taylor (born June 15, 1970) is a Peabody and Emmy-winning, Oscar-nominated director and producer whose documentaries have shown theatrically, at film festivals and stream worldwide.
Early life
Taylor is a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults). Tay ...
, Marshall Curry
Marshall Curry (born ) is an Oscar-winning American documentary director, producer, cinematographer and editor. His films include '' Street Fight'', '' Racing Dreams'', '' If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front'', ''Point and ...
, Sebastian Junger
Sebastian Junger (born January 17, 1962) is an American journalist, author and filmmaker who has reported in-the-field on dirty, dangerous and demanding occupations and the experience of infantry combat. He is the author of '' The Perfect Sto ...
and Fisher Stevens
Fisher Stevens (born Steven Fisher; November 27, 1963) is an American actor, director, producer and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Ben in ''Short Circuit'' and '' Short Circuit 2'', Chuck Fishman on the 1990s televi ...
.
In 2012, Goodman received an Emmy Award in recognition of his score to the film ''Saving Pelican #895''. The award was presented as part of the 33rd Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards in the category of Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Music & Sound.
Documentary film scoring credits (partial list)
Narrative film scoring credits (partial list)
Museum Music
In 1999, Goodman founded the record labe
Museum Music
ref name="inkandescent" /> that specializes in creating custom music CDs for museums and related cultural organizations. That year, New York's Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
was hosting a Jackson Pollock
Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was widely noticed for his " drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a hor ...
exhibition. The museum was looking to create a compilation CD of music to accompany the exhibition, and Goodman was contacted as music consultant. Seeing a unique opportunity, Goodman successfully pitched MoMA to create the compilation himself, and thus Museum Music was born. "Jackson Pollock Jazz" featured music licensed directly from the artist's personal collection, and was an immediate success. Shortly after, Museum Music landed business with the J. Paul Getty Museum
The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa.
The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and fea ...
in Los Angeles, which was preparing for its grand opening at the time, and has since grown to service dozens of major cultural institutions around the world.
Music publishing
In 2002 Goodman and longtime college friend Daniel Stein founded the music licensing and publishing compan
MusicBox
Under Goodman's leadership, the company licensed and produced custom music for all types of visual media, ultimately growing to include 24 catalogs and over 30,000 songs with representation in more than 45 countries worldwide
Ole Music Publishing
one of the largest independent music publishers in the world, acquire
MusicBox
in 2011.
/ref>
Education and advocacy
Goodman strongly supports and advocates for the fair and just valuation of music. As a board member of th
Production Music Association
ref name="PMA" /> and chair of its Performing Rights Committee, Goodman works to educate the membership on best practices for effectively valuing and exploiting their copyrights in today's evolving music industry. He is a regular panelist for such organizations as ASCAP, IFP, AFI
AFI may refer to:
* ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol
* Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer
* AFI (band), an American rock band
** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...
and SCL, providing insight and expertise on these same issues, and has served as an ASCAP industry representative in meetings with members of the U.S. Congress, advocating for the rights of artists.
In addition, Goodman leads film music workshops at universities, conferences and film festivals around the world,[Get with the Net: Licensing Music for Digital Media - NAB Panel 2013]
/ref> encouraging the creative process and guiding both students and peers on effective methods for creative collaboration between composers and filmmakers.
Cycling
Goodman is an active cyclist and fan of cycling. He rides over 7,500 miles a year, has ridden the entire length of the California coast twice, and has ridden across the United States from Canada to Mexico.
See also
* Walt Disney (2015 PBS film)
References
External links
Official Website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodman, Joel
American film score composers
American male film score composers
Living people
The High School of Music & Art alumni
Berklee College of Music alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)