Blues in E

Description

Steve Goodman was a craftsman by trade but also an artist and a musician undiscovered. He passed away in 1994 under nefarious circumstances. He was always scraping to break through. Relentless, psychotic, and misunderstood. These recordings were made the year of Goodman’s death. They were recorded in my living room with the most modest of equipment. The tracks have been laying dormant since then on a 4-track cassette master tape simply labeled “Goodman Blues in E”. Putting the master tape back in the deck these 32 years later we discover some forgotten tracks – ghosts of my friend Stevie G.

I believe Steve had asked me to record some blues jam he’d been working on. I don’t remember much else, except asking him to “…keep it in E” when he invited me to jam with him on a practice run. The session has Steve taking three runs at his Blues in E, titled here as “Drinking Over Losing You”. The final, fully realized take is the one we’ve chosen as the opener for this release. A stark trumpet and saxophone horn test he recorded has been added to side A as “Schniggle Bop” (Goodman’s catch phrase). “Other Side of the World” is a forgotten gem that makes me feel like he’s not really gone when I hear it. A heartfelt and hopeful gift from beyond. “All My Tools” is another phrase of Steve’s from a street rap he had been developing. This aptly titled final selection showcases the artist’s abilities as jazz guitarist, saxophonist and trumpet player. The emotion invested into these recordings shows a side of Goodman few of his casual friends ever witnessed.

Steve reveled in playing the fool. He lived for improvising.. musically, socially, enterprising! Steve was difficult to “get” on the surface. Due to his absurdist wit and energetic sense of humor, many who encountered Steve took him for less than he really was. Sometimes it seemed bad luck clung to him. Steve also liked to stir the sauce. I wonder now if it could all have been part of his grand performance, a character from his Comedy Humane? Lurking beneath was a generous, kind-spirited artist who wanted to give, and grow the world around himself. Today there is barely any evidence that he was ever here.

Steve’s been gone a long time now. I couldn’t take the opportunity as others did to speak about him at his funeral. So I must thank Belligerent for giving me the opportunity today to honor my good friend on Blues in E. I hope you will enjoy it. For Goodman, the exhaustive non-stop hustle is over.

– Anderson