Over the years, New York-born Geoff Goodman has collaborated with top jazz players including Marty Cook, Chris Hirson, Tony Lakatos, Charlie Mariano, Jörn Pfenning, Larry Porter, Allan Praskin, Nicolas Simion, Ed Schuller, Mal Waldron, Thomas Zoller, and three albums with Massachusetts-born drummer, and fellow European expat, Bill Elgart.
In addition to composing, the guitarist, banjo, and mandocello player has formed several groups including the Geoff Goodman Quintet, Misery Loves Company, Tabla and Strings, Curiosities of Nature, the Metal, Wood & Wire Quartet, the Goodman-Bordenave Quintet, the Goodman-Turku Duo, and Katie Cruel. The German-based musician has toured across Europe and Northern Africa and released more than a dozen albums as a composer, performer, and bandleader including the 2015 releases Inverted Forest by the Goodman-Bordenave Quintet and At The Middle with vocalist Fjoralba Turku, and The Roving Jewel in 2017, released with Turku under the name Katie Cruel.
East Coast Roots
Geoff Goodman was born in New York City and studied at several schools in the nearby New England states of Maine and Massachusetts including Boston University and the University of Massachusetts.
Q: Was there a particular program or faculty member that drew you from New York City to first attend Boston University and then study at the University of Massachusetts?
A: I left New York when I was 18, went to B.U., then followed a woman up to Portland, Maine and studied there for a year or two before I transferred to the UMass after I had enough of Maine… At UMass there was Archie Shepp, at Hampshire College (part of there five college program) Vishnu Wood. I also studied with Lewis Spratlin (Composition) and David Reck (Ethnomusicology) at Amherst college.
Q: Did you first meet Bill Elgart on the East Coast?
A: No, we met for the first time in Salzburg, Austria. Bill was living there and I was passing through with Chris Hirson.
Five Albums With Chris Hirson
Geoff Goodman made four albums with American saxophone and flute player Chris Hirson as a duo and a fifth as part of a quartet between 1987 and 1997. They first toured Europe in 1979.
Q: How did you and Chris Hirson first meet?
A: Chris and I met in high school. We’ve known each other since we were 16.
Q: Where did the idea to relocate to Europe originate?
A: We weren’t planning at first to “relocate” to Europe. The initial plan was just to do an open-ended trip. We both wanted to leave the States: disco was on the rise and most of the music we were listening to was coming out of Europe… one thing led to another and we ended up staying here.
Geoff Goodman has lived in Europe since 1986, currently based in München, Germany.
The Hirson / Goodman Duo’s performance of “Sand,” featuring Chris Hirson on flute and Geoff Goodman on guitar, was recorded live at Jazzclub Unterfahrt München in 2010:
Making Music With Charlie Mariano
In 2008, Geoff Goodman’s Tabla & Strings: Song Of Nature was released on TUTU Records, featuring Bernd Hess on electric and acoustic guitars, Tobias Ott on tabla, Fjoralba Turku on vocals, Goodman on mandocello, banjo, and electric guitar, and Charlie Mariano on alto saxophone.
Q: How did you first get the chance to play with another jazzman from New England, the legendary Charlie Mariano?
A: We first met when we toured together with Bill and Carlo Mombelli–I was subbing for Peter O’Mara, lucky for me. That was around ’92. [Bill Elgart, Carlo Mombelli, Charlie Mariano, and Peter O’Mara recorded Happy Sad in 1990.]
Q: What about doing an album together?
A: Years later Peter Wiesmüller from, TUTU Records had the idea to do the second Tabla and Strings CD with him. I asked him and he said okay. I also brought in Fjoralba Turku, she was 24 and I believe Charlie was 84.
Note: This site hopes to be able to share a couple of tracks from this album in the near future. Stay tuned!
Three Albums With Bill Elgart
Drummer Bill Elgart and Geoff Goodman’s musical collaborations began with concerts in the early 1990s and continue with a recent series of performances as members of the Metal, Wood & Wire Quartet, with Ardhi Engl and Sebi Tramontana. Elgart and Goodman have also made three albums and one single together between 2000 and 2011.
Q: Is the Jazz + Haiku album in 2011 by your Curiosities of Nature group the first time you and Bill Elgart recorded together?
A: No, we recorded together previously on my Charles Ives’ CD [Alison Welles & Geoff Goodman – Songs Of Charles Ives And Other American Songs (2000)] and on Thomas Zoller’s Songs Closer To Silence album on Enja [in 2002.
“The Battle Cry of Freedom,” a song written by composer George Frederick Root of Sheffield, Massachusetts in 1862, is a free interpretation of one of Charles Ives’ favorite quotes and features Alison Welles on vocals, Geoff Goodman on electric guitar, and Bill Elgart on drums:
Q: When did the initial version of Curiosities of Nature form?
A: Fjoralba and I had the idea to form a band which wasn’t world music and also not totally jazz. I think this was around the summer of 2008. Our first gig was a summer week at the Unterfahrt in Munich. The program and personnel changed a lot. That December we did a Rundfunk recording where we recorded the first haikus.
Jazz + Haiku Released in 2011
Jazz + Haiku, an album of songs that composer Goodman transposed from Japanese poetry, primarily from 17th and 18th century masters Matsuo Basho, Yosa Buson, and Kobayashi Issa, was released in 2011. This new version of Curiosities of Nature features an international cast of players including Germans Till Martin on tenor saxophone and clarinet and Henning Sieverts on bass, Americans Bill Elgart on drums and Geoff Goodman on guitar, Albanian singer Fjoralba Turku on vocals, and Japanese artist Kiyomi who recites the haikus.
Q: Where did your interest in Japanese haiku come from?
A: I was thinking about how I could write songs for Fjoralba to sing without writing embarrassing lyrics. I’ve also always been a fan of reduction in many forms, also my playing, my chords, my choice of notes, are often small and few… I was aware of haiku, but never really delved into it. I got a hold of a book and within hours I had written the first three haiku tunes.
Q: How long did it take for this unique project to develop? Was it your idea?
A: It was my idea and I worked about two years developing the program and still write haiku tunes for Fjoralba.
Q: How did this eclectic group of artists come together for this project?
A: Through me. Obviously I knew Henning, Bill and Till, and I was also working with Fjoralba. I just had to search awhile for Kiyomi.
A video of Geoff Goodman and the Curiosities of Nature’s performing “Bamboo Children” live 8 March 2012 is online, featuring Bill Elgart on drums, Kiyomi on recitations, Andi Kurz on bass, Till Martin on tenor saxophone, and Fjoralba Turku on vocals:
A closer look at Jazz+Haiku which includes live tracks that didn’t appear on the album, part of an expanded version of this interview, is HERE.
“Strange Things” Digital Single
Besides recording the 13-track Jazz + Haiku album in 2011, Geoff Goodman and the Curiosities of Nature players, recorded and released a digital-only single the same year, “Strange Things.” The same composition was revisited by Goodman and Turku on their 2014 At The Middle album on TUTU Records.
The earlier version of “Strange Things,” featuring Bill Elgart on drums, Till Martin on tenor saxophone, Henning Sieverts on bass, Fjoralba Turku on vocals, and Goodman on guitar is currently available at music retailers including iTunes and Amazon, the latter which also has copies of Jazz+Haiku in CD and as a Digital Download.
Geoff Goodman and Fjoralba Turku’s stripped-down version, later renamed “Space Between Us,” is online:
Goodman and Turku’s At The Middle in 2014
Last fall’s At The Middle album was the third of a series of collaborations showcasing the talents of composer-guitarist Goodman and vocalist Turku. Downloadable MP3 files of four album cuts, “At The Middle,” “Space Between Us (aka Strange Things),” “Within You, Without You / Tomorrow Never Knows,” and “Vals I Lumturis” are currently found on the CD page of Goodman’s website HERE as well as at a website dedicated to the duo’s various musical projects HERE.
Q: How did you and Fjoralba first meet?
A: Fjoralba and I first met at a workshop I was giving at Jazz Projekt here in Munich. It’s the jazz school I’ve been teaching at for over 10 years. She enrolled in my ensemble workshop. I was immediately taken by her voice, and eventually asked her to join Tabla and Strings….It was the beginning of our friendship and musical career together.
Q: Do you and Fjoralba have any more albums planned?
A: We’re planning our next CD, it will focus more on “roots” music, Albanian and American: “Blues, Ballads and Folk Songs.”
The title cut from Geoff Goodman and Fjoralba Turku’s current release, At The Middle, is on YouTube:
Goodman-Bordenave Quintet Debut Album in 2015
In June 2015, the Goodman-Bordenave Quintet released Inverted Forest album on Double Moon Records. The lineup consists of Matthieu Bordenave on saxophone, Gerhard Gschlößl on trombone, Bastian Jütte on drums, Andreas Kurz on bass, and Geoff Goodman on guitar.
Q: How long did the group play together before cutting the debut album?
A: When we first started, about four years ago, we went through a lot of personnel changes. The present group of players has been in existence for about two years.
Q: Where will the Goodman-Bordenave Quintet perform in the second half of 2015?
A: We have a CD release tour in November in southern Germany. Another tour for March 2016 is currently in the planning stages, as well.
A special thanks to Geoff Goodman for allowing this site to create several videos including the following for “Here We Are Now,” the tenth track on the Goodman-Bordenave Quintet’s Inverted Forest album:
Metal, Wood and Fire in the 2010s
Metal, Wood & Wire, a duo composed of Ardhi Engl and Geoff Goodman, expanded to a quartet in 2012 with the addition of Bill Elgart and Sebi Tramontana. The group continues to perform on a regular basis.
Q: Any future gigs planned with the Metal, Wood & Wire Quartet?
A: In February, Metal, Wood and Wire will do a few gigs including Berlin, Magdeburg, and Munich.
Q: How about an album?
A: We may record something next year…
More information and music is found at the group’s website HERE.
Borrowing liberally from jazz, classical, and new music, as well as drawing on their roots as musicians nurtured in the United States and Indonesia, respectively, here’s “Metal, Wood, and Fire” with Geoff Goodman on guitar and Ardhi Engl on a variety of instruments, recorded live in München in 2011:
Katie Cruel Album Released January 2017
In January 2017, Geoff Goodman and Fjoralba Turku released their newest album, The Roving Jewel, an homage to “Katie Cruel,” an American folk song from the 1700s concerning a mysterious woman who did not follow the social mores of the time. The traditional tune, which has been interpreted numerous times in a variety of countries, most likely originated in Scotland.
Katie Cruel, which vocalist Turku and guitarist Goodman have adopted as the name of their duo on the CD and digital download, also features special guests Max Grosch on violin, Till Martin on saxophone, and Andreas Kurz on bass. More information is located at Geoff Goodman’s website including three downloadable tracks: “Katie Cruel,” “I See You,” penned by Roger McGuinn and David Crosby, and “M’ka Mar Malli Per Nenen Time,” a traditional Albanian song.
A teaser for the new album has just been uploaded to YouTube:
Select Geoff Goodman Discography:
- Katie Cruel (Fjoralba Turku & Geoff Goodman) – The Roving Jewel (2017) Double Moon Records
- Goodman-Bordenave Quintet – Inverted Forest (2015) Double Moon Records
- Geoff Goodman and Fjoralba Turku – At The Middle (2014) Double Moon Records
- Goodman-Turku Duo – Strange Things (2014) TUTU Records
- Geoff Goodman – “Strange Things” (2011) Double Moon Records [Single]
- Geoff Goodman – Jazz + Haiku (2011) Double Moon Records
- Rosebud Plays The Music Of Newport (2009) Enja Records
- Geoff Goodman’s Tabla & Strings – Song Of Nature (2008) TUTU Records
- Geoff Goodman Quintet – Tall Tales And Dreams (2005) TUTU Records
- Rosebud Trio – Plays Jazz, Film Music & Cowboy Songs (2003) Harald Burger & Martin Müller Musikverlag
- Misery Loves Company – Ajar (2002) Laika Records
- Geoff Goodman Quintet – Naked Eye (2000) TUTU Records
- Tabla & Strings – Islands Everywhere (2000) TUTU Records
- Alison Welles & Geoff Goodman – Songs Of Charles Ives And Other American Songs (2000) Harald Burger & Martin Müller Musikverlag
- Le Petit Chien – Woof. (1999) Enja Records
- Misery Loves Company – Magia Ke Miseria (1998) Enja Records
- Hirson/Goodman Duo – Human Lives (1997) Acoustic Music Records
- Hirson/Goodman Quartet – Nudism (1994) Harald Burger & Martin Müller Musikverlag
- Hirson/Goodman Duo – Before & After (1992) Harald Burger & Martin Müller Musikverlag
- Hirson/Goodman Duo – Paint It Blue (1992) Harald Burger & Martin Müller Musikverlag
- Hirson/Goodman Duo – Hirson & Goodman (1987) Harald Burger & Martin Müller Musikverlag
References:
Latest Info & Concert Dates:
Geoff Goodman Sampler on YouTube
A sampler showcasing a dozen of this correspondent’s favorite tracks of the music of guitarist-composer Geoff Goodman is on YouTube, including album cuts by the Goodman-Bordenave Quintet, Alison Welles and Goodman, the Geoff Goodman Quintet, and the Goodman-Turku Duo plus live clips of Fjoralba Turku and Geoff Goodman in 2008, Josh Thomas’ Roustabaout in 2009, Geoff Goodman’s Curiosities of Nature’s in 2012, and Katie Cruel (aka the Goodman-Turku Duo) in 2014.
This interview initially appeared 24 June 2015 on http://hapsnowswhirlwinds.com, which spawned Bill’s Blue Note as well as sister site http://the6thdimension.com.
Bill's Blue Note 