Jerry Goodman

Goodman performing in London in 1970

Jerry Goodman (born March 16, 1943 in Chicago , Illinois ) is an American violinist who was best known for his electrically amplified violin playing as a member of the fusion bands The Flock and Mahavishnu Orchestra .

biography

As a child, Goodman received classical training on the violin. In the late 1960s he worked as a roadie for the band The Flock , of which he eventually became a member. In 1970 he left the group to retire to Wisconsin .

John McLaughlin engaged Goodman in 1971 to record his album My Goal's Beyond and for his Mahavishnu Orchestra project.

After the Mahavishnu Orchestra disbanded in 1973, Goodman recorded the album Like Children with Jan Hammer . He did not make his next recordings, three solo albums, until the mid-1980s. He has toured with his own band as well as Shadowfax and the Dixie Dregs .

Over time, Goodman accompanied numerous well-known musicians on their recordings (such as Oregon (band) , Vasant Rai or Michel Polnareff ) and made music for various films. After a long break he appeared again in 2005, heard on the album Live at the Queen Elizabeth Hall by Gary Husband and his "Force Majeure".

Discography (selection)

With The Flock

• The Flock (1969)
• Dinosaur Swamps (1971)

With the Mahavishnu Orchestra

• The Inner Mounting Flame (1971)
• Birds of Fire (1973)
• Between Nothingness and Eternity (live, 1973)
• The Trident Sessions (recorded 1973, released 1999)
• Electric Guitarist (1978)

With Jan Hammer

• Like Children (1974)

With Derek Sherinian

• Black Utopia (2003)

With Jarek Śmietana

• A Tribute to Zbigniew Seifert (JSR Records in 2009, with Didier Lockwood , Krzesimir Dębski , Christian Howes , Mark Feldman , Maciej Strzelczyk, Adam Bałdych , Pierre Blanchard , Mateusz Smoczyński , Jarek Śmietana , Zbigniew Wegehaupt , Adam Czerwiński Janusz Grzywacz, Piotr Wylezol , Sławek Berny)
• Special Jazz Sextet & Jerry Goodman, Jarek Śmietana: Projekt Elbląg (Allegro 2011, with Marcin Gawdzis, Artur "Żółwik" Olewniczak, Szymon Zuehlke, Bartek Krzywda, Janusz Mackiewicz, Grzegorz Sycz and Przemek Dyakowski)

Solo albums

• On the Future of Aviation (1985)
• Ariel (1986)
• It's Alive (1987)
• Violin Fantasy (2016, compilation)

Web links

• Biography at Allmusic Guide (engl.)
• Jerry Goodman at Discogs (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Goodman, like the other violinists, can only be heard on one track: “Kilimanjaro”.
2. ↑ Goodman, like Śmietana, can only be heard on one track.