R.I.P. - Gordon Goodwin - December 30, 1954 - † December 8, 2025 - Jazz Musician

Gordon L. Goodwin (born December 30, 1954, in Wichita, Kansas; died December 8, 2025, in Los Angeles, California) was an American jazz musician (piano, saxophone, composition, arrangement, conducting) who led his large-scale Big Phat Band.

Goodwin began his musical training at California State University. After graduating, he played with musicians such as Pete Christlieb and Don Menza in Louie Bellson's Big Band. He continued playing there under Les Hooper and Grant Geissman.

Goodwin achieved widespread recognition in the American jazz scene with his 18-piece band, Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band. The band included talents such as Wayne Bergeron, Eric Marienthal, and Peter Erskine. Over the course of its existence, the band released twelve albums, including *Swingin' for the Fences*, which received two Grammy nominations and featured Arturo Sandoval as a guest soloist; *XXL*, which received three nominations; *The Phat Pack*; *Act Your Age*; and *That's How We Roll*, most recently *For Ella 2* (2023) with Patti Austin.

The Big Phat Band also provided the music for the Warner Bros. production *Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas* (2006). He also arranged music for Johnny Mathis (for whom he also worked as a pianist), Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Christina Aguilera, and Leslie Odom Jr.
Goodwin's music with the Big Phat Band is distributed by Silverline Records. He has also composed and arranged music for more than 80 films, including *Star Trek: Nemesis* (2002), *I Am Number Four* (2011), and *Armageddon* (1998).

Goodwin himself has won several awards, including a Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement for the film The Incredibles. In 2012, he again received a Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement for his arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue. At the end of 2012, his arrangement of Salt Peanuts (for Arturo Sandoval's album Dear Diz (Every Day I Think of You)) was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Instrumental Arrangement category. Two years later, he won the award in this category for his arrangement of On Green Dolphin Street, and another year later, Life in a Bubble was honored as Best Ensemble Album.

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band at Disneyland Part 5 - Swingin' for the Fences

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band - The Phat Pack

Big Phat Band - Life in the Bubble -The Video!

 

R.I.P

 

Sad news, R.I.P