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Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band

Even for a successful composer and arranger in Hollywood, Gordon Goodwin’s numbers are impressive: A 2006 GRAMMY Award for his Instrumental Arrangement of “Incredits” from the Pixar film The Incredibles, three Emmy Awards, and thirteen GRAMMY nominations.

Here’s another impressive number to add to the list: eighteen. As in the number of musicians in Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, one of the most exciting large jazz ensembles on the planet. Populated by L.A.’s finest players, the Big Phat Band takes the big band tradition into the new millennium with a contemporary, highly original sound featuring Goodwin’s witty, intricate, and hard-swinging compositions in a veritable grab bag of styles: swing, Latin, blues, classical, rock and more.

A steady, persistent audio diet of the giants of jazz, pop, rock and funk has nourished Goodwin’s being since childhood. Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Buddy Rich, Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Earth, Wind and Fire, and Tower of Power, among many others, filled the well for the music his band makes today. And like those other bands, Goodwin’s music is nothing less than astonishing when experienced live.

Goodwin’s ability to combine jazz excellence with any musical style makes his writing appealing to fans across the spectrum. That’s why both beboppers and headbangers dig Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band.

Established in 2000, the Big Phat Band’s debut recording, Swingin’ For The Fences (Silverline Records), featured guest artists Arturo Sandoval and Eddie Daniels. It made history as the first commercially available DVD-Audio title ever released and the first DVD-Audio title to receive two GRAMMY nominations.

The band’s second album, XXL (Silverline Records), was released on DVD-Audio and compact disc in 2003. Charting its first week, XXL garnered three GRAMMY nominations for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album, Best Instrumental Composition (“Hunting Wabbits”) and Best Instrumental Arrangement with Vocals (“Comes Love” with Brian McKnight and Take 6), while winning the Surround Sound Award for “Best Made for Surround Sound Title.” The list of guest artists matched the high quality of the first release and featured, among others, Johnny Mathis and the incomparable Michael Brecker.

The Big Phat Band’s third album, The Phat Pack (immergent Records), with guest stars Dianne Reeves, David Sanborn, Eddie Daniels and Take 6, received a GRAMMY nomination and spent 31 weeks on the Billboard jazz charts.

Released in September 2008, the Big Phat Band’s fourth recording, Act Your Age, far outsold every other big band record in its path. Produced by acclaimed guitarist Lee Ritenour, it featured a host of terrific guests including Patti Austin, Chick Corea, Dave Grusin and even Ritenour himself, plus a special appearance by the late pianist Art Tatum on a stunning performance that had jaws dropping right and left. The critically acclaimed Act Your Age garnered three GRAMMY nominations.

George Wallington, Oscar Peterson, Yazz Ahmed, Harry Connick, Jr.& Gordon Goodwin

by Joe Dimino
January 4, 2026

We open one of the final episodes of 2025 by tipping our hat to a true jazz giant we recently lost--Los Angeles-based big band titan Gordon Goodwin. Taken from us by complications from cancer, he leaves behind a deep and dazzling legacy of swing, fire, and fearless creativity. As a tribute, we drop the needle on “Hunting Rabbits 2" from his 2006 album The Phat Pack, a fitting salute to a master who reshaped the modern big band sound. From ...

Radio & Podcasts

Improvising the Classics: Interpreting Mozart

by Larry Slater
December 12, 2025

Mozart is one of those true musical geniuses revered as one the classical gods. Why are jazz musicians drawn to his music? The combination of his deceptively simple melodies and logical harmonic progressions allows jazz artists to mold these classic pieces into music that is recognizably jazz, yet still recognizably Mozart. Whether or not you listen to classical music, a great deal of Mozart's music is instantly recognizable when jazz musicians transform them into vehicles for ...

Album Review

Jeremy Cohen: Raymond Scott Reimagined

Read "Raymond Scott Reimagined" reviewed by Walter Atkins

by Walter Atkins
July 25, 2023

Raymond Scott Reimagined is an engaging collaborative project with Quartet San Francisco, Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band and the Grammy winning acapella group Take 6 on two tracks. The album is a thoughtful and stylish interpretation of Raymond Scott's legacy. It is also interspersed with audio tidbits featuring Scott's singular musical approaches. The album kicks off with the enticing “Powerhouse," familiar to anyone who has watched a Warner Bros Looney Tunes cartoon. “Toy Trumpet" is a tasty composition ...

In Pictures

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band at The Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival

by Manny Hebron
July 9, 2022

Summer is officially here which means the Hollywood Bowl plays host to elite artists from all music genres. The Hollywood Bowl also celebrates its centenary having opened in 1922. The annual festival, formerly the Playboy Jazz Festival, celebrated its 42nd year at the Bowl the weekend of June 25-26, 2022. With Arsenio Hall hosting both Saturday and Sunday, this year's lineup featured several Grammy-winning musicians including composer/arranger Gordon Goodwin who performed music from his five-decade career with his ...

Album Review

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band: The Reset

Read "The Reset" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
December 16, 2021

Gordon Goodwin's dynamic Big Phat Band rumbles back onto the scene with The Reset, a somewhat less-than-big-phat album whose dual purpose, according to Goodwin, is to express hope and gratitude in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic and to honor one of Goodwin's mentors, the late Sammy Nestico. Goodwin calls the album an EP, whose twenty-eight minute playing time places it in roughly the same ballpark as a vinyl LP from the good old days before digital recording and streaming. ...

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Video / DVD

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Four from Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
April 11, 2010

It's been a while since we've highlighted any big band clips for this weekly feature, and so today let's take a look at some videos of pianist, saxophonist and arranger/composer Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, who are coming to town to play next Saturday, April 17 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center as part of the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival.Formed in 2000 and based in Los Angeles, the 17-piece ...
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Performance / Tour

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band Cooks at the Bakery

Source: All About Jazz
May 24, 2008

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band at The Jazz Bakery Tuesday May 27th

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, 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: ...
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Performance / Tour

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band at the Jazz Bakery

Source: All About Jazz
May 12, 2008

Big Phat Band at The Jazz Bakery May 27th

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Music Industry

Be Featured on Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band's Next Record

Source: All About Jazz
March 10, 2007

Grammy winning artist Gordon Goodwin and the Big Phat Band are showing just how much they love their fans by inviting them to perform on their next album by way of a talent search called The Big Phat Jam (www.bigphatjam.com). The talent search, launching March 19, will feature fans competing with other contestants for eight weeks to see who has the best jazz improvisational skills. Additionally, a special vocal category will give fans an opportunity to sing with the band. ...
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Recording

The latest disc from Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band

Source: All About Jazz
July 12, 2006

The latest disc from Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, The Phat Pack, showcases more of the hot licks that fans have come to know and love. In addition to the playful jazz of such tracks as “Whodunnit?" and “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes", the Big Phat Band teams up with guest vocalist Dianne Reeves, fresh from winning a Grammy for her work on the soundtrack to the Oscar winning film “Good Night and Good Luck." In true “Rat Pack" fashion, ...
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Recording

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band New CD on Sale Now

Source: All About Jazz
June 23, 2006

Recording

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band Releases "The Phat Pack"

Source: All About Jazz
June 13, 2006

GORDON GOODWIN'S BIG PHAT BAND RETURNS WITH THE PHAT PACK A TOAST TO THE SWINGING VEGAS CREW AND MORE

In Stores June 13th (immergent)

On a mission to bring the music, persona and effortless cool of the Rat Pack and big band eras back to the modern world, The Big Phat Band releases The Phat Pack on June 13th (immergent), their tip of the hat to a sound that refuses to go out of style. “We in the ...
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“The Big Phat Band provides potent testimony to the sheer exhilaration of big band jazz…a combination of crisp accuracy and fiery soloing.” - LA Times

“I was immediately taken by Gordon’s contemporary musical viewpoint, the dynamics of his “Big Phat Band,” its bevy of superb soloists, and the exhilaration of its sound.” - Quincy Jones

Gordon is an arranger of absolutely no limit of musical styles and composer of some of the best compositions ever. He is a man of exquisite musical taste. I am truly blessed to have him in my life.” —Johnny Mathis