TRANSCRIPT:
I’m Mark Rapp, and you are listening to Rapp on Jazz.
Gordon Richard “Dick” Goodwin is a highly influential figure in South Carolina’s jazz and academic music scenes. Goodwin served in the U.S. Coast Guard Band from 1958 to 1962 before diving into music studies at the University of Texas at Austin. There, he earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees and helped launch the school’s jazz program as an undergrad.
In 1973, Goodwin moved to Columbia, South Carolina, to join the University of South Carolina’s music faculty. He spent the rest of his teaching career there, founding the school’s doctoral program in composition. Beyond academia, Goodwin remains one of Columbia’s most prolific musicians—an accomplished trumpeter, pianist, composer, and bandleader who continues to shape the region’s jazz sound.
This has been Rapp on Jazz, a co-production of ColaJazz and SC Public Radio, made possible by The ETV Endowment of South Carolina.