<\/p>\n
North Idaho church and professional musician Chris James Gootherts is a testament to the tried-and-true phrase that it is hard to keep a good man down \u2013 or in Gootherts\u2019 case, a passionate pianist from making music and sharing it with others.<\/p>\n
\u201cMusic is a conversation without words. I\u2019m a talkative person so that works out wonderfully for me, and I love it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For over 50 years, Gootherts has used his \u201cGod-given\u201d abilities and charismatic personality to connect with audiences locally and across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I play and people compliment me, I like to say, \u2018I show up and move the fingers; it\u2019s God moving your heart,\u2019 \u201d he smiled.<\/p>\n
Last June, 69-year-old Gootherts who lives in Hauser, Idaho, retired from \u201ccorporate life\u201d where he was involved in human resources and recruiting. He is looking forward to the \u201cfreedom and creative time\u201d and said he\u2019s now embarking on a journey of revival.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m relaunching my music career full time, and I\u2019m really excited about it,\u201d Gootherts said. \u201cThere were a lot of lessons learned through all these years. It is very natural to go back to my roots.\u201d<\/p>\n
At age 7, Gootherts began to play piano, and at age 17, he launched into performances at nightclubs, weddings and a Christian church in Corte Madera, California. Music became a companion and a love of his.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was generally shunned by my peers due to being overweight, which caused me to be at home and practicing piano more than being outside with friends,\u201d Gootherts reflected.<\/p>\n
But in a positive way, his childhood continued to shape him into the musician he is today.<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up in the music business as my father Mervin was a top trumpet player in San Francisco, who would be the first-call to play with Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett and other famous swing and jazz famous people in those days,\u201d he recalled. \u201cAs a kid, I would sit in the light booth and listen, then I had a chance to meet the artists. It was pretty cool, really!\u201d<\/p>\n
When Gootherts was 23, his dad died of a heart attack at age 60.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething clicked inside of me, and I decided to move into playing jazz,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
He never looked back.<\/p>\n
He credits a triad foundation of faith, music and his relationship with his wife Jane \u2013 established in his youth \u2013 as the pivotal sources of his creative and spiritual inspiration, which allows him to do what he does.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do think music touches the soul in a direct way that bypasses our cerebral,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I want to put music out in the world in a positive perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gootherts said his faith in Jesus is \u201cthe central point of his life,\u201d and everything he is and does revolves around it.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod reached Chris, the gift of faith, through his music when he was in a Christian youth group at age 14,\u201d said Jane Gootherts, who first met him there in their hometown of Corte Madera, California, and who has been his partner for 47 years.<\/p>\n
Neither of them was raised with a religious influence. In 2010 while living in Renton, Washington, and attending the local Catholic church, the couple converted to Catholicism.<\/p>\n
\u201cChris has always had a love of playing piano in church,\u201d Jane Gootherts said. \u201cHe has a sense of his spirit transcending into the heavens with his music, to worship the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chris Gootherts list of musical career accomplishments are varied and many. He\u2019s been a composer, recording artist, music director, producer and arranger in both the Christian and secular jazz worlds. Early in his career, he was active in the contemporary Christian music scene playing church venues with 100 to 2,500 attendees and concert venues drawing audiences up to 25,000.<\/p>\n
In the \u201980s and \u201990s he toured jazz festivals and colleges nationally and has shared the stage with jazz legends such Stan Getz, Dave Brubeck, Ramsey Lewis, Sarah Vaughan and others, while performing at the Monterey Jazz Festival and other jazz festivals, cruises, clubs and concerts throughout the United States.<\/p>\n
Chris Gootherts dazzles audiences with his depth and breadth, ranging from jazz classics to original material to a splash of spiritual saunter. His concerts cover tempos from fast -paced and snappy to smooth and slow melodic along with lots of stories and humor mixed between the songs.<\/p>\n
At a recent September benefit concert in Coeur d\u2019Alene, he opened the event playfully announcing, \u201cI hope you can hear my piano over my loud shirt.\u201d<\/p>\n
His shows offer and deliver an experience beyond the entertainment.<\/p>\n
Coeur d\u2019Alene friend Donna Miller has seen Chris Gootherts perform both at her St. Pius X Catholic Church during Mass and at area community events. She said his music is \u201csomething so special\u201d and deeply touching.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe instrument loves him. It\u2019s just as mesmerizing moving with him to the rhythm of his craft as it is just to listen to the intricate patterns and trills, he creates,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n
She met Chris Gootherts three years ago through church.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had composed a new liturgical score for Mass and his fingers flew across the keys effortlessly. I was in awe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Mass I do love hearing music I have written for the Gloria, Sanctus, etc., sung by the congregation, as it indicates the Lord used me when I wrote those pieces. That so pleases me!\u201d Chris Gootherts shared.<\/p>\n
Longtime Catholic friend and fellow musician\/vocalist George DeRuyter joined Chris Gootherts on stage that September evening. In introducing DeRuyter, Chris Gootherts humbly shared a reality of his own.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod blessed me with these\u201d he said wiggling his fingers high in the air \u201cbut not these\u201d pointing to his vocal cords.<\/p>\n
De Ruyter lives in Liberty Lake and has been singing and collaborating musically with Chris Gootherts for over 12 years. They share a sacred zeal for Mass music ministry.<\/p>\n
Chris Gootherts leads the music at three different parishes for their Masses twice a month including St. Mary\u2019s in Spokane, St. Joseph\u2019s in Otis Orchards and St. Pius X in Coeur d\u2019Alene.<\/p>\n
\u201cChris has been a friend and mentor to me,\u201d DeRuyters said . \u201cHe has encouraged and sometimes even pushed me to further my faith journey, perhaps even without knowing it,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m so blessed to worship with him week after week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chris Gootherts is ecstatic, energized and hopeful about the unknown path before him. He\u2019s quickening his step and leaning into it without hesitation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always performed in different bands wherever I was in my life. It\u2019s just a matter of sharing my music anywhere and everywhere I can now,\u201d Chris Gootherts said. And he isn\u2019t missing a beat in doing so, it appears.<\/p>\n
Chris Gootherts\u2019 passion and his fast-moving fingers are being channeled into three area bands including the Coeur d\u2019Alene Big Band (\u201940s -style swing), Dr. Phil and the Enablers (rock and blues), and the Chris James Quartet (jazz and popular past hits). He also plans to continue his church music ministry and retirement center performances, while adding a few holiday concerts to the mix.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels like a continuum. The spirit has led me through good and bad all my life for the purpose of being closer to God,\u201d he said. \u201cI know I\u2019m going to make new mistakes and that\u2019s OK.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Chris Gootherts, it\u2019s somewhat of a mystery what is on the horizon, but he\u2019s comfortable with that because his mission is clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I really want to do is have an opportunity to spread the gospel through music and give people an opportunity to feel it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Chris Gootherts invites and welcomes the Inland Northwest community to \u201cjoin him soon\u201d in experiencing his humor, storytelling and spirit-filled piano tunes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope my audiences simply have a musically good time with me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
To follow Chris Gootherts, purchase his music and to learn more about his upcoming performances, go to triunitymusic.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n