Born: December 22, 1987 Primary Instrument: Guitar
Toronto born guitarist and composer Alex Goodman is establishing himself as a major force on the Canadian jazz scene. He has released three albums as a leader, his most recent, “Bridges” reached #1 on the national Chartattack and !Earshot jazz charts. Prior to that, his second CD “Convergence” was voted as one of the top ten jazz records of 2010 (!Earshot). He has toured across the country and has performed at such prestigious venues as the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Massey Hall and the CBC’s Glenn Gould studio.
Upon completing his Bachelor of Jazz Performance at the University of Toronto he was honored as the first jazz musician to have been awarded the William and Phyllis Waters Graduating Award for the “student deemed to have the greatest potential to make an important contribution to the field of music.” Alex has also been honored with over a dozen national music awards including the Domenic Troiano Guitar Scholarship, the Archie Alleyne Award and recognition as a CBC “rising star.” The Alex Goodman Quintet was a finalist in the 2011 Grand Prix de Jazz competition at the Montreal International Jazz Festival. He has been featured with major national media such as CityTV news, Global BC, the Edmonton Journal and the Ottawa Citizen. His music can regularly be heard on CBC, Galaxie jazz and Jazz.FM.
Alex is also an accomplished composer with over 100 compositions in his portfolio and two award winning film scores. The first, “Goodbye Rosebud” won the William Marshall award and the second “Reality Check” was aired nationally on Global Television. Alex has performed with international jazz stars such as Tim Ries and Ron Westray of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra as well as Maria Schneider and Jon Patitiucci while a student at U of T. Within Canada he has also played with many of Canada’s biggest jazz stars including Jane Bunnett, Richard Underhill and Terry Clarke.
Tim Ries - Rolling Stones saxophonist
“I'm gonna bet on you to be the next great jazz musician from Canada. It won't be long before you become a household name!”
Jojo Chintoh - CityTV Toronto News Personality and Reporter
“The hottest young player around”
The Calgary Jazz Association
“With plenty of great melodies and tasteful solos, Goodman's compositions set a high standard for quartet-based modern jazz.”
Jake Shenkar �” Mondo Arts Magazine
“Goodman's outstanding guitar playing and compositions place him amongst the elite of Canada's emerging jazz artists.”
Geoff Young - Canadian Jazz Guitarist and Composer
“How old are you?... You sound like you’ve been playing the guitar for 30 years! I just loved your tasteful playing.”
Michael Salvatori - Composer for the “Halo” Game Series - said backstage after Alex played Massey Hall at age 20
“Alex’s contributions as a composer, arranger and performer have been of such high quality that I cannot imagine either film existing without their scores.….[he created a] score I can describe in only one word: Perfect.”
Brian Lynch �” Award Winning Filmmaker
“The next big thing in the jazz world.”
Gord Martineau - Anchor CityNews at Six - CityTV
“[a] genius who rocks the jazz world.”
Post City Magazines
“Definitely one of the best contemporary jazz albums [Bridges] I’ve heard in awhile”
“Indigo” Mike Kenyon - CBC radio
“...a credit to Goodman’s writing and to his only slightly older bandmates’ abilities that they can get such this track and the CD’s other diverse construction to flow and cohere so well...Bridges can feel at times like higher-order, straight-eighths chamber music... the substantial but streamlined, forward-moving and personal music on Bridges works. Thanks to Goodman’s erudition and passion, and to the keen understanding and playing of his bandmates, the disc definitely works.”
Peter Hum - The Ottawa Citizen
“This is a CD you MUST add to your jazz collection. Goodman is one of Canada's finest jazz guitarists and if you ever needed more evidence of that, then give a listen to Bridges. This recording is complex, layered and elegant deftly combining jazz and classical forms, and showcasing tight interplay between all the members of this quintet...make no mistake, these are top jazz musicians. As contemporary jazz, Bridges is spot on, with just the right flavouring of classical music.”
Dennis Slater - Fast Forward Weekly (FFWD Calgary)
“Délicatement composée et orchestrée, interprétée avec fougue et grâce, la musique du guitariste prodige torontois jette effectivement un pont entre jazz et classique dans un climat proche de la musique de chambre. Cela s’explique entre autres par la remarquable cohésion entre le leader et ses complices...et par la maîtrise des deux idiomes dont ces jeunes loups érudits font systématiquement preuve. Cela dit, aussi soignés soient les arrangements, le véritable intérêt ici tient néanmoins à l’inventivité des improvisations qui placent Alex Goodman dans la lignée d’un Kurt Rosenwinkel.”
[English translation] “Delicately composed and orchestrated, interpreted with enthusiasm and grace, the music of the young prodigious Torontonian guitarist Alex Goodman effectively builds a bridge between jazz and classical in a similar manner to chamber music. This is explained amongst other things by the remarkable cohesion between the leader and his band mates...and by the mastery of the two idioms that these young lions have proved themselves with. The arrangements are of real interest while the inventive improvisations place Alex Goodman in the line of a Kurt Rosenwinkel.”
Stanley Péan - Voir
“With Bridges, Alex Goodman and crew have firmly planted their feet into the realm of top-notch modern jazz. Goodman has developed a unique compositional style...combined with his and his band's excellent musicianship has created one heck of a record.”
Matt Fong - Spontaneous Combustion Magazine
“Ses talents remarquables pour la guitare et la composition lui confèrent une place parmi l'élite des artistes jazz émergents canadiens... Un petit génie?”
[English] “His remarkable guitar and compositional talents have won him a place among the elite emerging artists of Canadian jazz... We may have a genius on our hands...”
La Presse
Bridges (Connection Point Records, 2011)
Convergence (Independent, 2010)
Roots (Roots, 2007)
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Primary Instrument:
Guitar
Location:
Toronto, ON
Willing to teach:
Intermediate to advanced students
