Torsten Goods

His Irish mother's record collection was a treasure trove for the young Torsten Goods, spending hours as he did listening to such jazz greats as Oscar Peterson and Duke Ellington. The 23 year-old Torsten was born in Düsseldorf to Irish / German parents, grew up in Erlangen, in Bavaria, and now lives in Nürnberg. After several years of piano lessons the young 14 year-old preferred the guitar sounds of Rock and Heavy Metal. His encounter, at 17, with the Australian jazz guitarist Peter O'Mara paved the way for his interest in jazz, however. This was followed by several years of intensive guitar lessons and workshops, among others with Jim Hall and John Scofield in New York. During this time he had the opportunity to play with the well-known guitarists Les Paul, Jack Wilkins, Mike Stern, Peter Bernstein, Howard Alden and Frank Vignola, at the same time learning a lot from them.

The gypsy guitar virtuoso Bireli Lagrene then invited him to Strassburg and had a decisive influence on his musical development. In January 2000 Torsten was invited by Peter Herbolzheimer to join the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and in 2001 he produced his first CD "Manhattan Walls" on Jardis Records with jazz greats such as Tony Lakatos, David Gazarov, Davide Petrocca, Dejan Terzic, Guido May, Jan Eschke Andreas Kurz and Rick Keller - the press was full of praise.

In August 2001 Goods gets a scholarship to study "Jazz and Contemporary Music" at the renowned New School University in NYC and it is there that he meets Seleno Clarke and George Benson, who has a decisive influence on him, inspiring him to sing as well. Since then Goods has given concerts in China, Spain, Ireland and the USA, ranging from impromptu gigs to a steady contract with the band of the New York gospel choir in Rev. Run's church (Run DMC).

Back in Germany since 2003, Goods is continuing with his studies and working on his career. He has just released his second CD "Steppin'" (October 2004) on Jazz4ever Records.

His main influences on guitar (and vocals) up to present are George Benson, Bireli Lagrene, Pat Martino, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass and Django Reinhardt.