* En anglais uniquement
Tommy Goodman worked with
Benny Goodman, the former in fact making his pianistic recording debut on the latter's 1946 view of "Blue Skies." Each established himself as a good man on his respective instrument but therein the connection ends, as they were not from related branches of any given
Goodman family.
Tommy Goodman actually wound up better known as an arranger and composer then as a pianist, working in great detail on orchestral settings for the varied talents of, among others,
Louis Armstrong and
John Denver.
Studies in at least three of the top music schools in North America -- including work at Yale with the brilliant composer, writer, and critic
Paul Hindemith -- no doubt helped in the preparation for these and all other assignments. During the '50s
Goodman fit well into several classic jazz combos, including reedman
Bud Freeman's unit, drummer
Louis Bellson's rhythm-driven aggregation, and an all-star collective known as the Six that at times also featured trumpeter Johnny Glasel. At the keyboard,
Goodman trimmed the technical torpedo of
Art Tatum with the wispy, wiggly wonder of
Teddy Wilson. He was rarely credited as
Thomas, thus avoiding confusion with Sgt. Thomas Goodman, survivor of the Centralia massacre. ~ Eugene Chadbourne