Benny Golson (January 25, 1929 – September 21, 2024) was an American

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerou ...

and hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He came to prominence with the big bands of

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, an ...

and

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

, more as a writer than a performer, before launching his solo career. Golson was known for co-founding and co-leading

The Jazztet The Jazztet was a jazz sextet, co-founded in 1959 by trumpeter Art Farmer and tenor saxophonist Benny Golson, always featuring the founders along with a trombonist and a piano-bass-drums rhythm section. In its first phase, the Jazztet lasted unti ...

with trumpeter

Art Farmer Arthur Stewart Farmer (August 21, 1928 – October 4, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet–flugelhorn combination especially designed for him. He and his identical twin brother, doub ...

in 1959. From the late 1960s through the 1970s Golson was in demand as an arranger for film and television and thus was less active as a performer, but he and Farmer re-formed the Jazztet in 1982. Many of Golson's compositions have become

jazz standards Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive List ...

, including " I Remember Clifford", " Blues March", " Stablemates", " Whisper Not", "Along Came Betty", and "Killer Joe". He is regarded as "one of the most significant contributors" to the development of hard bop jazz, and was a recipient of a Grammy Trustees Award in 2021.

Early life and education

He was born Benny Golson in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania, on January 25, 1929. His father, also Bennie Golson, left the family early. His mother Celadia brought the family up, working as a seamstress and a waitress. Golson witnessed racism first at age eight on a trip to Georgia with an uncle. He began taking

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

lessons at age nine; his interest in music was nurtured at Benjamin Franklin High School in

giving him ambitions to become a concert pianist; he was fascinated by the music of Brahms and Chopin. At age 13, he was taken to New York's Minton Playhouse, where

was born, and he experienced some bop pioneers including

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the Jazz standard, standard jazz repertoire, includ ...

. He saw

's band, featuring

Arnett Cobb Arnett Cleophus Cobb (August 10, 1918 – March 24, 1989)
accessed July 2010. was an American tenor saxophonist, somet ...

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

, at Philadelphia's Earle Theatre. Inspired, he switched to the

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

at age 14. At the high school, he played with several other promising young musicians, including

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

Red Garland William McKinley "Red" Garland Jr. (May 13, 1923 – April 23, 1984) was an American modern jazz pianist. Known for his work as a bandleader and during the 1950s with Miles Davis, Garland helped popularize the block chord style of playing in jazz ...

Jimmy Heath James Edward Heath (October 25, 1926 – January 19, 2020), nicknamed Little Bird, was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader. He was the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath. Biography Heath w ...

Percy Heath Percy Heath (April 30, 1923 – April 28, 2005) was an American jazz bassist, brother of saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert Heath, with whom he formed the Heath Brothers in 1975. Heath played with the Modern Jazz Quartet througho ...

Philly Joe Jones Joseph Rudolph "Philly Joe" Jones (July 15, 1923 – August 30, 1985) was an American Jazz drumming, jazz drummer. Biography Early career As a child, Jones appeared as a featured tap dancer on ''The Kiddie Show'' on the Philadelphia radio stat ...

, and

Red Rodney Robert Roland Chudnick (September 27, 1927 – May 27, 1994), known professionally as Red Rodney, was an American jazz trumpeter. Biography Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he became a professional musician at 15, working in the mid-1940 ...

. He later attended

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

Career

After graduating from Howard University, Golson joined

Bull Moose Jackson Benjamin Clarence "Bull Moose" Jackson (April 22, 1919 – July 31, 1989) Allmusic biography Accessed January 2008. was an American blues and rhythm-and-blues singer and saxophonist, who was most successful in the late 1940s. He is considered ...

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

band;

Tadd Dameron Tadley Ewing Peake Dameron (February 21, 1917 – March 8, 1965) was an American jazz composer, arranger, and pianist. Biography Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Dameron was the most influential arranger of the bebop era, but also wrote charts for swi ...

, whom Golson came to consider the most important influence on his writing, was Jackson's pianist at the time. From 1953 to 1959, Golson played with Dameron's band and then with the bands of

Johnny Hodges Johnny Hodges (July 25, 1907 – May 11, 1970) was an American alto saxophone, alto saxophonist, best known for solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years. Hodges was also featured on sop ...

Earl Bostic Eugene Earl Bostic (April25, 1913October28, 1965) was an American alto saxophonist. Bostic's recording career was diverse, his musical output encompassing jazz, swing music, swing, jump blues and the post-war American rhythm and blues style, whi ...

, and Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, with whom he recorded the classic '' Moanin''' in 1958. Golson was working with the Lionel Hampton band at the

Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use Theater (structure), theater at 253 125th Street (Manhattan), West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of U ...

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

in 1956 when he learned that Clifford Brown, a noted and well-liked jazz trumpeter who had done a stint with him in Dameron's band, had died in a car accident. Golson was so moved by the event that he composed the threnody " I Remember Clifford", as a tribute to a fellow musician and friend. In addition to "I Remember Clifford", many of Golson's other compositions have become

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive List ...

s. Songs such as " Stablemates", "Killer Joe", " Whisper Not", "Along Came Betty", and "Are You Real?", have been performed and recorded numerous times by many musicians. From 1959 to 1962, Golson co-led

the Jazztet The Jazztet was a jazz sextet, co-founded in 1959 by trumpeter Art Farmer and tenor saxophonist Benny Golson, always featuring the founders along with a trombonist and a piano-bass-drums rhythm section. In its first phase, the Jazztet lasted unti ...

with

, mainly playing his own compositions. Golson then left jazz to concentrate on studio and orchestral work for 12 years. During this time, he composed music for such television shows as ''

Mannix ''Mannix'' is an American detective television series that originally aired for eight seasons on CBS from September 16, 1967, to March 13, 1975. The show was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, and developed by executive producer ...

'', '' Ironside'', ''

Room 222 ''Room 222'' is an American comedy-drama television series produced by 20th Century Fox Television that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC for 112 episodes, from September 17, 1969, until January 11, 1974. The show was broadcast on 1969 ...

'', '' M*A*S*H'', ''

The Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom created by Bernard Slade, which was broadcast in the United States from September 1970 to March 1974 on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. After the final first-run telecast on ABC in March ...

'' and '' Mission: Impossible''. He also formulated and conducted arrangements to various recordings, such as '' Eric Is Here'', a 1967 album by

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer and songwriter. He was previously the lead vocalist of the rhythm and blues, R&B and Rock music, rock band The Animals and the funk band War (band), War. He is regarded as one of the Br ...

, which features five of Golson's arrangements, conducted by Golson. During the mid-1970s, Golson returned to jazz playing and recording. Critic

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author. Life and career Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Beginning in 1974, Yanow was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles and was the jazz e ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote that Golson's sax style underwent a major shift with his performing comeback, more resembling avant-garde

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

than the swing-era

Don Byas Carlos Wesley "Don" Byas (October 21, 1912 – August 24, 1972) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, associated with swing and bebop. He played with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Art Blakey, and Dizzy Gillespie, among others, and also l ...

influence of Golson's youth. He made a successful second career playing in clubs and on festivals internationally. In 1982, Golson re-organized the Jazztet with Farmer. Golson played a cameo role in the 2004 movie '' The Terminal'', related to his appearance in '' A Great Day in Harlem'', a group photograph of prominent jazz musicians taken in 1958. Main character Viktor Navorski (

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

) travels to the US from Europe to obtain Golson's signature; Golson was one of seven musicians then surviving from the photo, the others being Johnny Griffin (died 2008), Eddie Locke (died 2009),

Hank Jones Henry Jones Jr. (July 31, 1918 – May 16, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians have described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts h ...

(died 2010), Marian McPartland (died 2013), Horace Silver (died 2014), and

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American retired jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, Rollins recorded over sixt ...

. Pianist Ray Bryant's song "Something in B-Flat," which was included on Golson's debut album as a leader, ''Benny Golson's New York Scene'', can be heard during a scene where Viktor is painting and redecorating part of an airport terminal; in a later scene, Golson's band performs "Killer Joe". The album '' Terminal 1'' was released by Golson shortly after the film, as a "homage to

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

", its director.

Musical style

Golson's early playing has been described as "characterised by a distinctively fibrous, slightly hoarse tone ... firmly within the mainstream-modern tradition exemplified by another of his heroes, the tenor player

." During the 1960s, however, he absorbed some of the techniques pioneered by his friend

, whom he described as "an inextinguishable example of spiritual nobility." He is regarded as "one of the most significant contributors" to the development of hard bop jazz.

Personal life

Golson was married to Seville Golson; they had three sons, Odis, Reggie and Robert, and the marriage ended in divorce. He married the ballet dancer Bobbie Hurd in 1959; they had a daughter, Brielle. In an interview with ''

Awake! ''Awake!'' is an illustrated religious magazine published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. It is considered to be a companion magazine of '' The Watchtower'', and is distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses. The Watch Towe ...

'' on October 8, 1980, Golson said that since the late 1960s he and his wife had become members of

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

. Golson died, following a short illness, at his home in Manhattan, New York, on September 21, 2024, at the age of 95.

Awards and honors

In 1996, Golson received the NEA Jazz Masters Award of the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

. In 1999, Golson was awarded an honorary doctorate of music from

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

. In October 2007, Golson received the Mellon Living Legend Legacy Award, presented by the

Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation (MAAF), headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, is one of six Non-profit organization, not-for-profit Regional arts council (RAO), regional arts organizations funded by the National Endowment for ...

at a ceremony at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

. Additionally, during the same month, he won the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

International Academy of Jazz Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award at the university's 37th Annual Jazz Concert in the Carnegie Music Hall. In November 2009, Golson was inducted into the International Academy of Jazz Hall of Fame, during a performance at the University of Pittsburgh's annual jazz seminar and concert. He received the Grammy Trustees Award in 2021. The Howard University Jazz Studies program created a prestigious award in his honor called the "Benny Golson Jazz Master Award" in 1996. Many distinguished jazz artists have received this award.

Notable compositions

* "Stablemates", 1955 * " Whisper Not", 1956 * "Are You Real?", 1958 * " I Remember Clifford", 1957 * " Blues March", 1958 * "Along Came Betty", 1958 * "Five Spot After Dark", 1959 * "Killer Joe", 1960

Gallery

benny-golson01.jpg benny-golson02.jpg benny-golson03.jpg benny-golson05.jpg

Discography

Sources:Discography

* '' The Modern Touch'' (Riverside 1958) – recorded in 1957 * '' The Other Side of Benny Golson'' (Riverside, 1958) * '' Benny Golson and the Philadelphians'' (United Artists, 1958) * '' Benny Golson's New York Scene'' (Contemporary, 1959) – recorded in 1957 * '' Gone with Golson'' (New Jazz, 1959) * '' Groovin' with Golson'' (New Jazz, 1959) * '' Winchester Special'' with Lem Winchester (New Jazz, 1959) * '' Gettin' with It'' (New Jazz, 1960) – recorded in 1959 * '' Take a Number from 1 to 10'' (Argo, 1961) – recorded in 1960–61 * '' Pop + Jazz = Swing'' (Audio Fidelity, 1962) * '' Turning Point'' (Mercury, 1962) * '' Free'' (Argo, 1963) – recorded in 1962 * '' The Roland Kirk Quartet Meets the Benny Golson Orchestra'' with Roland Kirk (Mercury, 1964) * '' Stockholm Sojourn'' (Prestige, 1965) – recorded in 1964 * '' Tune In, Turn On'' (Verve, 1967) * '' Killer Joe'' (Columbia, 1977) * '' California Message'' with

Curtis Fuller Curtis DuBois Fuller (December 15, 1932May 8, 2021) was an American jazz trombonist. He was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributed to many classic jazz recordings. Early life Fuller was born in Detroit on December 15, 193 ...

(Baystate, 1981) * '' One More Mem'ry'' with Curtis Fuller (Baystate, 1982) * '' Time Speaks'' with Freddie Hubbard and

Woody Shaw Woody Herman Shaw Jr. (December 24, 1944 – May 10, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, arranger, band leader, and educator. Shaw is widely known as one of the 20th century's most important and influentia ...

(Baystate, 1983) * '' This Is for You, John'' (Baystate, 1984) – recorded in 1983 * '' Stardust'' with Freddie Hubbard (Denon, 1987) * '' Benny Golson Quartet Live'' (Dreyfus, 1991) – recorded in 1989 * '' Benny Golson Quartet'' (LRC Ltd. 1990) * '' Domingo'' (Dreyfus, 1992) – recorded in 1991 * '' I Remember Miles'' (Alfa Jazz, 1993) – recorded in 1992 * '' That's Funky'' (Meldac Jazz, 1995) – recorded in 1994 * '' Up Jumped Benny'' ( Arkadia Jazz, 1997) – recorded in 1996 * '' Tenor Legacy'' (Arkadia Jazz, 1998) – recorded in 1996 * '' Remembering Clifford'' (Milestone, 1998) – recorded in 1997 * '' One Day, Forever'' (Arkadia Jazz, 2001) – recorded in 1996–2000 * '' Terminal 1'' (Concord, 2004) * '' New Time, New 'Tet'' (Concord, 2009) – recorded in 2008 * '' Horizon Ahead'' (HighNote, 2016) – recorded in 2015

References

External links

* * * *
"Benny Golson Recreates His Great 'Jazztet
��'' Weekend Edition Saturday'' ( NPR) interview, January 24, 2009
Listening In: An Interview with Benny Golson
by Bob Rosenbaum, KCRW-FM, Los Angeles, February 1982 (PDF file) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Golson, Benny 1929 births 2024 deaths 21st-century American saxophonists African-American jazz musicians American jazz composers American male jazz composers American jazz tenor saxophonists American male saxophonists Argo Records artists Bebop saxophonists DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame members Hard bop saxophonists HighNote Records artists Howard University alumni The Jazztet members The Jazz Messengers members Jazz musicians from Philadelphia Orchestra U.S.A. members Prestige Records artists Riverside Records artists NEA Jazz Masters