By Marshall Swanson

Dick Goodwin was only 4 years old when he landed his first paying gig: singing a solo with the Municipal Band of Cape Girardeau, Mo. With that first $1 paycheck in hand, he said, “I was pretty sure music was what I was supposed to do.”

And he’s been hitting all the high notes ever since. Goodwin arrived at Carolina 36 years ago to start the doctoral program in composition at the School of Music and conduct the USC Symphony, and his Dick Goodwin Big Band (goodwinmusics.com) has been a constant fixture at hundreds of University social occasions—from Homecoming weekends to presidential receptions.

“The process of making music has fascinated me since I discovered it at a very early age,” the distinguished professor emeritus said. “I don’t think that passion has ever subsided.”

One of the reasons Goodwin’s ensembles get called back time and again to perform at events on and off campus is that he figures out what kind of music his clients want and tailors the group’s performances accordingly.

“Sometimes people want a big band kind of presentation, but that doesn’t mean we won’t play the electric slide or some Dixieland jazz if somebody asks for it,” said Goodwin, who also is a composer and arranger with a background in virtually every idiom. “We’re versatile.”

Most of the members of Goodwin’s group are either Carolina music faculty or earned music degrees from the University; they’re also excellent musicians, performing the band’s 750-song repertoire and special requests, even if the number isn’t on their play list. That makes for performances marked by flair and spontaneity. At a benefit performance for the S.C. Philharmonic in Columbia in February Goodwin drew on a lifetime of performing experience to read his audience by watching faces in the crowd—the best indicator, he said, for how music is being received.

“I think a good part of the satisfaction you get from playing—besides knowing that you did well on a given night—is the comments and notes from people after a performance,” said Goodwin, who still teaches part-time at Carolina and remains involved in a dizzying variety of musical activities, including performing with the Faculty Brass Quintet, writing or arranging music for special University occasions, and performing with Columbia’s Carolina Jazz Society.

“It’s been a real joy for me to be part of the musical scene here,” Goodwin said.
“I’m still having a good time.”