Oh, and he’s only 19.

Goodman sat down with The CJN recently at a Toronto-area coffee house to discuss his emerging musical career.

A native Torontonian, he recently returned from Montreal, where he lived for two years while pursuing studies at McGill University and working for the non-profit.

Goodman’s interest in music started when he was a child taking piano lessons. Despite a natural aptitude, he soon grew tired of the formal practising and dropped the hobby for a time.

But by age 15, he started noticing “cool kids” playing guitar and instantly rediscovered his zest for music and taught himself how to play classical guitar.

He credits his parents’ penchant for travel and their interfaith marriage – his father is Jewish, his mother Christian – for allowing him to experience both cultures and opening his senses to an eclectic range of world music.

“I always knew music was something I wanted to be a part of in my life,” he said. “But it’s hard to make a career out of it.”

Still, Goodman is giving it his all and has been recognized as an emerging jazz talent. “I know what I need to do… be as close to the top of my game as I can to succeed,” he said. “I love jazz because… it’s very spontaneous and improvisation is a huge part of it.”

Which is why he “pretty much gigs every night” to keep his chops sharp and is involved in numerous side projects, including being the main guitarist for the Ed Vokurka Jazz Violin Ensemble; composing pieces for cinema and heading his own band, the Alex Goodman Quartet.

He’s now enrolled at the University of Toronto in the faculty of music, after receiving the Phil Nimmons Award, a full, three-year scholarship for the university’s jazz program.

Goodman said it’s all “a little overwhelming” to him at this stage of his life, but he’s up to the challenge.

“I wanted to engage in music more seriously,” he explained. “And I’m looking to apply to the Julliard or Manhattan schools of music in New York after I’m done at U of T. I know the competition [to get in] is tough, but I believe I can do it and be persistent.”

And why wouldn’t he? Goodman  has already had tons of exposure to masters in the genre and has impressed all those who’ve heard him play.

Consider the following: on a 2005 trip through Thailand, while working on the youth board of Citizenship and Immigration Canada at the tender age of 17 – he admits he never told the government he was underage, “they didn’t ask,” he said – Goodman managed to record a CD with renowned Indian jazz guitarist Gerard Machado and played with acclaimed Bangalore saxophonist Dominic Saldanha.

Goodman said the trip made him want to insert world-music influence into his jazz stylings.

He’s also been the “jazz artist in residence” at Toronto’s Drake Hotel; performed weekly open jazz sessions at the Rex Jazz & Blues Bar, and played to audiences at the prestigious Lincoln Center in New York and the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

More recently, Goodman composed a five-part suite combining musical elements from jazz, minimalism, classical and Indian rhythms – “to create something novel,” he said – and then performed the piece at the Dominion on Queen jazz club on Dec. 14.

Goodman said he’s still involved at arm’s length with PaixQuebecPeace, but has chosen to focus the bulk of his energies on building his musical career.

This August, he released his first studio CD, Roots, with the Alex Goodman Quartet and looks forward to working on more projects in the coming year.

“I try and make people’s heads turn and be impressed by the most melodic lines possible,” he said.

Listening to his album, it seems he’s succeeding.

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/alexgoodman.