Benny Golson, Saxophonist and Composer of Jazz Standards, Dies at 95.

Remembering Benny Golson (1929-2024)

Benny Golson – Stablemates (B. Golson), from the album ‘ Benny Golson And The Philadelphians’ (Blue Note, 1958)

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Personnel:

Benny Golson, tenor sax; Lee Morgan, trumpet; Ray Bryant, piano; Percy Heath, bass; Philly Joe Jones, drums.

Original sessions, produced by Tom Wilson. Recording Engineer – Tommy Nola. Recorded on November 17, 1958, at Nola’s Penthouse, NYC.

Benny Golson: And the Philadelphians (1958)

The debut album by Benny Golson on Blue Note was tremendous. Along with a group of extraordinary instrumentalists, gathered under the nickname ‘And the Philadelphians’, Lee Morgan played on trumpet, Percy Heath on double bass, Philly Joe Jones on drums and Ray Bryant on piano.

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BENNY GOLSON & FREDDIE HUBBARD – Stablemates (Jazzfestival Bern, 1989)

Benny Golson Quintet, Jazzfestival, Bern (Switzerland), April 27 1989.

Benny Golson (short bio)

Benny Golson, (January 25, 1929, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States – September 21, 2024, New York, United States), was a saxophonist with extraordinary compositional skills. He studied music at Howard University between 1947 and 1950, and his musical beginnings took place in the heat of Rhythm and Blues, when he joined Bull Moose Jackson’s band in 1951. His dabbles with jazz were due to the influence he had on He, the pianist Tadd Dameron, with whom he shared a fruitful period in 1953. Also, the following year he participated with Lionel Hampton’s band between 1953 and 1954 and the following two years with the saxophonist, Johnny Hodges.

His meeting with the trumpeter, Dizzy Gillespie, between 1956 and 1958 marked him deeply and during the last years of the 1950s, he achieved a highly reputed reputation as a magnificent instrumentalist. His most fruitful experience and the one for which he is known in the history of jazz was when he participated with the trumpeter, Art Farmer, in the co-founding of the famous jazz group called “The Jazztet.” His compositions titled: “Blues Marsh”; “Stablemates” or the extraordinary, “I Rememberd Clifford”, in honor of the excellent trumpeter, Clifford Brown, are highly celebrated.

During the seventies, he abandoned the live jazz scene to dedicate himself mainly to studio arrangements – with singers such as Peggy Lee and Lou Rawls – but since the eighties he has returned to forming his own groups. He collaborated again with Art Blakey, Gillespie and himself, Art Farmer and his most recent projects have been with the extraordinary trumpeter, Terence Blanchard. His latest albums at the moment are recorded for the Arkadia label.

Benny Golson, a master saxophonist revered as much for the durable standards he contributed to the jazz repertoire as for his eloquent tenor sound, died on Saturday at his home in Manhattan. He was 95.

His longtime manager and agent, Jason Franklin, said he died after a short illness. Golson played an integral role in the transition from bebop to hard bop through his short but vital tenure with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and with his own influential Jazztet, co-led by trumpeter Art Farmer. But his place in the jazz pantheon would be secure even if he had never played a note.

Few jazz musicians can claim as many bona fide standards to their credit: bedrock compositions like “Whisper Not,” “Stablemates,” “I Remember Clifford,” “Along Came Betty,” “Killer Joe,” and “Blues March.” “Every stroke of his pen became another classic,” trumpeter Eddie Henderson, a member of one of his bands, tells WRTI. “His signature sound was undeniable: he could play one note and you knew it was Benny Golson. That’s the mark of a true artist.”

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