Goines graduated from St. Augustine High School in New Orleans and has been a member of Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Wynton Marsalis Septet since 1993.

Goines served as the director of jazz studies and professor for the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University from 2008 to 2022.

Goines has collaborated with Terence Blanchard, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ruth Brown, Ray Charles, Bo Diddley, Bob Dylan, Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Green, Lionel Hampton, Freddie Hubbard, B.B.

He has performed on more than 20 recordings, including the soundtracks for three Ken Burns documentaries and the films Undercover Blues (1993), Night Falls on Manhattan (1997), and Rosewood (1997).

[1] "'with Janio Abreu'" With Wynton Marsalis Septet "'With The Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra'" "'With Ruth Brown'"