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Benny Golson

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Benny Golson was an American tenor saxophonist, composer and arranger in bebop and hard bop, born in 1929 in Philadelphia. His mother, a seamstress and waitress, raised the family alone. He took piano lessons at the age of nine and later studied at Howard University. He then joined the rhythm and blues band of Bull Moose Jackson, in which Tadd Dameron was the pianist, whom he later regarded as his most important influence on his writing.

Music and breakthrough

Between 1953 and 1959 Golson played in Dameron's band and then with Lionel Hampton, Johnny Hodges, Earl Bostic, Dizzy Gillespie and Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, with whom he recorded the classic Moanin' in 1958. In 1956, during a performance at the Apollo Theater, he heard that his friend, the trumpeter Clifford Brown, had died in a car accident. He wrote I Remember Clifford in his memory. In 1959 he founded The Jazztet with the trumpeter Art Farmer. Many of his compositions have become standards, such as Stablemates, Killer Joe, Whisper Not, Along Came Betty and Blues March. In 2021 he received the Grammy Trustees Award. He died in 2024.

Influence

Golson is regarded as one of the most important contributors to hard bop. He first came to the fore as a writer and only afterwards as a soloist. His melodies are lyrical and singable, and jazz musicians still play them today.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to I Remember Clifford. Notice the long, singing melody and the plaintive tone, which suits a song in memory of a friend who has died.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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See also

Categories: Artists