A decent if underrated soloist who was a subtle (rather than) flashy improviser, Henry Goodwin was a fine trumpeter in his prime. He played drums and tuba in addition to trumpet as a child. He grew up in Washington D.C. and worked with the bands of Sam Taylor and Claude Hopkins in 1925 as a teenager. At age 15, Goodwin went to Europe with Hopkins (as part of the Josephine Backer Revue) but in Berlin he decided to return to New York. He soon sailed to Argentina with a group led by Paul Wyer. After coming back, Goodwin worked with Elmer Snowden and Cliff Jackson's Krazy Kats (with whom he recorded). He visited Europe again in 1933 with Lucky Millinder and then in New York played with Willie Bryant and for two years with Charlie Johnson. After a short stint with Cab Calloway, Goodwin was with Edgar Hayes (1937-40), worked with Sidney Bechet (where his style fit in perfectly) and gigged with Cecil Scott (1942-44), Gene Sedric and Art Hodes in addition to freelancing. Goodwin, who visited Europe again in 1948 (the Nice Jazz Festival with Mezz Mezzrow's band) and 1952, worked with Bob Wilber (1948-49), Jimmy Archey (1950-52) and Earl Hines in San Francisco (1956). He played in a variety of dixieland bands in the 1960's before retiring. Although a pleasing soloist, Henry Goodwin never led his own record date. ~ Scott Yanow