Torsten Goods is a fabulous German/Irish jazz guitarist and jazz-pop/soul singer. His prodigious skills won him a scholarship to study jazz guitar in New York while in his teens, subsequent to which he won several awards for albums primarily released on the ACT label.
Inspired by George Benson, who he has played with, he is a triple threat with the voice, the guitar skills and songwriting chops to take him around the world and to turn heads. In the UK, songs from his 2023 album “Soul Searching” were featured on the Jazz FM playlist.
“Summertime Heartache” is out today [27th June ’25], as the second single from his imminent new album “Soul Deep”, due on 12th September.
The latest track is romantic pop-jazz song with West Coast vibes echoing Al Jarreau, Steely Dan and George Benson, plus funky saxophone lines by Jakob Manz reminiscent of David Sanborn, the harmonically-rich tune relates a bittersweet tale of a summer love lost to distance and time. The accompanying video for was filmed in Cape Town.
The single follows the already available “Rocket Girl”, with it’s upbeat groove setting a new direction for Torsten, marking a transition into the realm of neo-funk/jazz artists such as Dirty Loops, Cory Wong, Snarky Puppy and Vulfpeck, with a killer horn section that heavily nods toward the glorious Tower Of Power.
The incoming new album ‘Soul Deep’ delivers a dozen new mostly self-composed – with two co-written with Bluey Maunick of Incognito.
The LP presents Torsten as a mature artist, heavily influenced by soul, but also jazz, blues and the summery West Coast/AOR sounds of late ’70s California.
“Soul Deep” also deals with Torsten’s visual transformation due to alopecia [sudden and persistent hair loss], but with love hovering above everything. It is a very personal album in which the 44-year-old musician chronicles stories from his life and his relationship with his soul mate, by now his wife.
These include the Steely Dan tribute “Summer Rain”, the beautiful “Live by the Heart” [a duet with Kim Sanders], and the dance-inducing “Rocket Girl”.
In addition to his solo work, Torsten Goods is musical director for German artist Sarah Connor, performs with trumpeter Till Brönner and trombonist Nils Landgren, while he is also artistic director of two jazz festivals in southern Germany.
- A “Soul Deep Tour” kicks off in autumn 2025, which will visit Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the UK and Ireland – his mother’s birthplace. As usual, he will be joined by Jan Miserre [keyboards and piano], Felix Lehrmann [drums] and Björn Werra [bass], who have been performing together for 16 years.
Photography by Michael Romacker
