Victor Goines

Victor Goines

Tenor Sax icon Tenor Sax, Clarinet

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62 age

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August 6, 1961 Birthday

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New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. Birthplace

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Social

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Shows

About

Victor Goines is a respected clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and educator. He has been a member of Jazz at Lincoln Center and the Wynton Marsalis Septet since 1993. He also leads his own quartet, has released 10 albums and written over 100 compositions. He has collaborated and performed with a variety of artists including Terence Blanchard, Bob Dylan, Dizzy Gillespie, Branford Marsalis, Diana Ross, and Stevie Wonder. As an educator, Goines served as the Artistic Director of Jazz Studies at The Juilliard School from 2000 to 2007, where he created the curriculum for the Juilliard Jazz Studies Program. From 2008 to 2022 he was the Director of Jazz Studies at Northwestern University. In 2022 he became the President and CEO of Jazz St. Louis.

Trivia

Victor Goines appears on the soundtrack for the 1997 film "Night Falls on Manhattan." Victor Goines played in the orchestra for the Broadway show "Black And Blue". Victor Goines won both the New Orleans City-Wide Jazz Saxophone Competition and the Best of New Orleans Jazz competition in 1991.

Early Life

Victor Goines was born in 1961 and grew up listening to all kinds of music in New Orleans. As a child he wanted to play the drums, but due to his severe asthma his mother felt the clarinet would be a better choice. At age 8, he began studying classical clarinet and in high school added various saxophones. Around this time he also developed an interest in jazz. Goines studied music at Loyola University and began taking lessons with jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis. After earning his degree in 1984 he played with Ellis Marsalis' quartet before moving to Virginia to study at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) where he earned a masters degree in 1990.