Jazz, Big Band sound coming to the Community Concert Hall Feb. 29 with Gordon Goodwin’s Little Phat Band

Durango, CO: Celebrating a new Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement, band leader Gordon Goodwin brings his Little Phat Band to the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College, Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012, 7 p.m.
Goodwin accepted the Grammy on Feb. 12, 2012, for his version of “Rhapsody in Blue.”

The Little Phat Band is a trimmed down, traveling version of Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, which has become one of the most hard-swinging, large jazz ensembles, celebrating and personifying the best of the big band tradition with a contemporary and original sound.

While similar in spirit to the Big Phat Band, the Little Phat Band plays its own music and arrangements, and the smaller group allows more freedom and individual expression. The band features seven of the Los Angeles music scene’s top jazz musicians: Wayne Bergeron (trumpet), Eric Marienthal (saxophone), Andy Martin (trombone), Bernie Dresel, (drums), Andrew Synowiec (drums), Rick Shaw (bass), with Goodwin on piano and tenor sax.

Band leader Goodwin has been engrossed and engaged with jazz and big band music since his middle school years. Though he began writing short (16-bar) pieces in first grade, he arranged a piece for his middle school’s band, which the director used and he encouraged Goodwin’s talent. This love of jazz and the big band sound inspired formation of Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band.
Featuring 18 musicians of the Who’s Who of jazz, the Big Phat Band has become the number one selling big band on the charts. The latest album is That’s How We Roll (Telarc), released in April 2011.

Of the new release, JazzReview.com wrote, “Built on a bed of technical excellence and a love for the music, the nostalgia That’s How We Roll generates for the big band era never threatens originality. Indeed, Gordon Goodwin has created a remarkably fresh piece of work that, without doubt, is one of the most interesting of the year so far.”
In all his work, Goodwin’s witty and insightful arrangements propel the listener on a journey through a myriad of styles: Latin, blues, swing, classical, and hard-hitting jazz. A composer before he was a musician and band leader, Goodwin won a Grammy in 2006 for his instrumental arrangement of “Incredits” from the Pixar film “The Incredibles.” He also boasts three Emmy Awards.
Noted Goodwin in a press statement, “There’s a significant segment of the population – and some are just high school kids – who inherited an appreciation for this music from their parents or their grandparents. They don’t necessarily consider themselves jazz fans, but they find this music to be accessible without being highbrow or elitist… We make music that sounds good to us, and it does seem to resonate with a lot of people.”
View videos of Gordon Goodwin and the Big Phat Band at www.bigphatband.com/videos.

Tickets for Gordon Goodwin’s Little Phat Band – $29/$39 – are available on-line at www.durangoconcerts.com or by calling 970.247.7657, or at the Ticket Office in Downtown Durango at 7th St. and Main Ave. All sales final.
Showtime is 7 p.m., with doors to the Concert Hall and concessions, serving beer, wine and non-alcoholic beverages and snacks, opening at 6 p.m.

The Community Concert Hall is a not-for-profit, multi-use performance venue located on the campus of Fort Lewis College. Its ability to bring a diverse spectrum of shows to Southwest Colorado is made possible through a partnership with the college, a state-supported, independent institution of higher education, as well as through financial and in-kind contributions from generous members of the community.