Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Orchestra
Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, an 18-piece jazz ensemble, celebrates and personifies the best of the big band tradition with a very contemporary and original sound. Through the writing genius of Gordon Goodwin, a Grammy and Emmy award winning composer and arranger, SRO audiences have enjoyed one of the most craftsman-like hard swinging large jazz ensembles comprised of L.A.'s finest musicians. Gordon's witty and insightful arrangements propel the listener on a journey through a myriad of styles: Latin, blues, swing, classical, hard-hitting jazz, and even an homage to Looney Tunes (!). Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Orchestra is now bringing that same distinctive style to the orchestra world. Our full length concert package features critically acclaimed hits from the last three Big Phat Band albums including "Sing, Sang, Sung", "Bach 2 Part Invention in D Minor", "The Jazz Police", "Mozart 40th Symphony in Gm" and much more.
"Hellzapoppin' swing...jaw-dropping, to say the least...the music literally dances in front of your eyes." Sean Daly, JazzTimes
Conducted by Gordon Goodwin, our SPM package features Gordon on piano, tenor and soprano sax as well as three topflight studio musicians on drums, bass (upright and electric), and solo sax. And if this orchestral roller coaster of brass, sass and swing isn't sizzlin' enough, add legendary clarinetist Eddie Daniels to the mix. Eddie is a frequent guest artist with the Big Phat Band. Contact us for more details.
For more information about Gordon Goodwin and his Big Phat Band visit gordongoodwin.com
Click on the players below to hear sound clips from the Big Phat Band. |
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"Sing, Sang, Sung!" |
"Bach 2 Part Invention in D Minor" |
"The Jazz Police" |
"Mozart 40th Symphony in Gm" |
Instrumentation for Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Orchestra* |
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2 Flutes (2nd doubles picc.) |
Violins 1-2 Viola Celli Arco Bass*** Timpani 2 Percussion (mallets and hand perc.) Harp (optional) Piano** Drum Set** Upright Bass** Solo Sax** |
*These arrangements require excellent jazz band players, particularly the lead trumpet, lead trombone, and saxophones.
**The piano, bass, drum set, and solo sax players are provided as part of the SPM package.
*** Only small section is needed-2 players
Guest Artist
Eddie Daniels is that rarest of rare musicians who is not only equally at home in both jazz and classical music, but excels at both with breathtaking virtuosity.
Expert testimony from the jazz world comes from the eminent jazz critic Leonard Feather, who said of Eddie, "It is a rare event in jazz where one man can all but reinvent an instrument bringing it to a new stage of revolution."
From the classical side, Leonard Bernstein said "Eddie Daniels combines elegance and virtuosity in a way that makes me remember Arthur Rubenstein. He is a thoroughly well-bred demon."
Eddie first came to the attention of the jazz audience as a tenor saxophonist with the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra. When Thad and Mel first organized their band in 1966 to play Monday nights at the Village Vanguard in New York (where it still plays), Eddie was one of the first musicians they called. Later that year, he sank $400 in a round-trip flight to Vienna to enter the International Competition for Modern Jazz, a contest organized by the pianist Fredrich Gulda and sponsored by the city of Vienna, and won first prize on saxophone. He continued working with Thad and Mel over the next several years and toured Europe extensively with them.
A single clarinet solo recorded with the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis orchestra, "Live at the Village Vanguard" garnered sufficient attention for him to win Downbeat Magazine's International Critics New Star on Clarinet Award. This conversion to clarinet was not new, for Eddie began clarinet at age 13 and received his Masters in Clarinet from Juilliard. Winning numerous Grammy awards and nominations, Eddie Daniels revolutionized the blend of jazz and classical.
Eddie Daniels is clearly a renaissance musician, a virtuoso in both jazz and classical music, recipient of unreserved accolades from his peers, from critics, and from the public. Eddie's overriding ambition is to reach as many people as possible with his music, to enlarge the audience for both jazz and classical music and at the same time to tear down the walls separating them. In Eddie's hands, the music of Mozart can be as engaging as that of Charlie Parker and a concert featuring both can be a uniquely rewarding experience for the audience.
