“Joel Goodman… has contributed to many of the more prominent nonfiction films of the past 30 years.”
~ Wall Street Journal
Joel Goodman creates emotion through music. As a multi-talented composer for feature films, documentaries, television, album releases, performance ensembles and other forms of collaborative media, his signature style thrives in musical settings that express the full range of human emotion.
With An Exquisite Moment, Goodman's deeply personal and improvisation-rich debut album of "full-experience" music, the Emmy-winning composer embarks on an epic voyage of self-discovery alongside some of the most accomplished and creative names in jazz. Special guests Randy Brecker (flugelhorn, trumpet), Brandee Younger (harp), Lisa Fischer (vocals), John Patitucci (bass), and Philippe Saisse (piano, vibes, marimba) join an A-team core group consisting of Donny McCaslin (saxophones), Eric Harland (drums), Adam Rogers (guitar), Mino Cinélu (percussion), Scott Colley (bass) and Goodman himself on keyboards and bass.
An Emmy-winner and four-time Emmy nominee known for a deeply nuanced sound filled with intricate subtleties, Goodman’s diverse body of work includes scores to over 150 films and television programs that have received 5 Oscar nominations, 30 Emmy awards and over 40 Emmy nominations. He has scored over 40 films for HBO and composed the Main Theme for the long-running and critically acclaimed PBS series American Experience.
His scores can regularly be heard in movie theaters and on television around the world. His notable award-winning films include Obit (Amazon), Everything Is Copy (HBO), Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah (HBO), Walt Disney (PBS), An Honest Liar (Netflix), Being Elmo (PBS), Once Upon A Time in Queens (ESPN), Murder Among the Mormons (Netflix), and Loudmouth (Greenwich Entertainment). As a record producer Joel’s credits include releases for Chuck Mangione, Livingston Taylor and Carla Lother.
Joel has collaborated with an impressive array of distinguished directors and producers including Neil LaBute, Albert Maysles, Andrew Jarecki, Barbara Kopple, Wong Kar-wai, Rachel Grady, Marshall Curry, Sebastian Junger, Barak Goodman, Alexandra Pelosi, Michael Epstein, Joe Berlinger, Oren Jacoby, Irene Taylor, Lesli Iwerks and Fisher Stevens.
Always looking to give back to his community, Joel conducts master classes and has been composer-in-residence in the United States and Europe, including seminars on film music at the American Film Institute, USC, Berklee College of Music, University of North Texas, AFI Docs, The Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in Denmark, Columbia College Chicago and the International Documentary Association’s Getting Real conference. He is also a regular panelist for such organizations as ASCAP, PMA, IFP, AFI and SCL amongst others.
A native New Yorker, Joel splits his time between Paris, Los Angeles and New York, and anywhere he can enjoy the great outdoors.
