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Benny Golson

Benny Golson (born January 25, 1929)[1] is an American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger.[2] He came to prominence with the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, more as a writer than a performer, before launching his solo career. Golson is known for co-founding and co-leading The Jazztet with trumpeter Art Farmer 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.[3]

Benny Golson

(1929-01-25) January 25, 1929
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

  • Musician
  • composer
  • arranger

Saxophone

1940s–present

Many of Golson's compositions have become jazz standards 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,[4] and was a recipient of a Grammy Trustees Award in 2021.[5]

Early life and education[edit]

Born in Philadelphia, Golson began learning the piano at age nine, then switched to the saxophone when he was 14.[3] While a student at Benjamin Franklin High School in Philadelphia,[6] he played with several other promising young musicians, including John Coltrane, Red Garland, Jimmy Heath, Percy Heath, Philly Joe Jones, and Red Rodney. He later attended Howard University.

Awards and honors[edit]

In 1996, Golson received the NEA Jazz Masters Award of the National Endowment for the Arts.[17]


In 1999, Golson was awarded an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee College of Music.[18]


In October 2007, Golson received the Mellon Living Legend Legacy Award,[17] presented by the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation at a ceremony at the Kennedy Center. Additionally, during the same month, he won the University of Pittsburgh International Academy of Jazz Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award at the university's 37th Annual Jazz Concert in the Carnegie Music Hall.[19]


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.


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.[20]

Beliefs[edit]

In an interview with "Awake!" on October 08, 1980, Golson said that since the late 60s he had become a member of the religious organization Jehovah's Witnesses

"And You Called My Name", 1954

"Stablemates", 1955

"", 1956

Whisper Not

"Are You Real?", 1958

"", 1957

I Remember Clifford

"Just by Myself", 1957

"", 1958

Blues March

"Park Avenue Petite", aka "From Dream to Dream", 1959

"Along Came Betty", 1958

"Killer Joe", 1960

"Beauty And The Blues"

"Blues After Dark"

"Five Spot After Dark"

"Gipsy Jingle-Jangle"

"Minor Vamp"

"Step Lightly"

"Strut Time"

"Reggie of Chester"

"The Stroller"

[21]

Benny Golson in Denmark (2007)

(Riverside 1958) – recorded in 1957

The Modern Touch

(Riverside, 1958)

The Other Side of Benny Golson

(United Artists, 1958)

Benny Golson and the Philadelphians

(Contemporary, 1959) – recorded in 1957

Benny Golson's New York Scene

(New Jazz, 1959)

Gone with Golson

(New Jazz, 1959)

Groovin' with Golson

with Lem Winchester (New Jazz, 1959)

Winchester Special

(New Jazz, 1960) – recorded in 1959

Gettin' with It

(Argo, 1961) – recorded in 1960-61

Take a Number from 1 to 10

(Audio Fidelity, 1962)

Pop + Jazz = Swing

(Mercury, 1962)

Turning Point

(Argo, 1963) – recorded in 1962

Free

with Roland Kirk (Mercury, 1964)

The Roland Kirk Quartet Meets the Benny Golson Orchestra

(Prestige, 1965) – recorded in 1964

Stockholm Sojourn

(Verve, 1967)

Tune In, Turn On

(Columbia, 1977)

Killer Joe

with Curtis Fuller (Baystate, 1981)

California Message

with Curtis Fuller (Baystate, 1982)

One More Mem'ry

with Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw (Baystate, 1983)

Time Speaks

(Baystate, 1984) – recorded in 1983

This Is for You, John

with Freddie Hubbard (Denon, 1987)

Stardust

(Dreyfus, 1991) – recorded in 1989

Benny Golson Quartet Live

(LRC Ltd. 1990)

Benny Golson Quartet

(Dreyfus, 1992) – recorded in 1991

Domingo

(Alfa Jazz, 1993) – recorded in 1992

I Remember Miles

(Meldac Jazz, 1995) – recorded in 1994

That's Funky

(Arkadia Jazz, 1997) – recorded in 1996

Up Jumped Benny

(Arkadia Jazz, 1998) – recorded in 1996

Tenor Legacy

(Milestone, 1998) – recorded in 1997

Remembering Clifford

(Arkadia Jazz, 2001) – recorded in 1996-2000

One Day, Forever

(Concord, 2004)

Terminal 1

(Concord, 2009) – recorded in 2008

New Time, New 'Tet

(HighNote, 2016) – recorded in 2015

Horizon Ahead

List of jazz arrangers

Official Site

by Bob Rosenbaum, Los Angeles, February 1982 (PDF file)

Listening In: An Interview with Benny Golson

at IMDb

Benny Golson

NPR Interview 2009 Jan 24

Benny Golson Recreates His Great 'Jazztet'

on YouTube

Benny Golson Interview at underyourskin