Current:Home > InvestJazz saxophonist and composer Benny Golson dies at 95 -CapitalSource
Jazz saxophonist and composer Benny Golson dies at 95
View
Date:2025-04-14 07:12:32
NEW YORK (AP) — Jazz great Benny Golson, a tenor saxophonist and composer of standards such as “Killer Joe” and “Along Came Betty,” has died. He was 95.
Golson died Saturday at his home in Manhattan after a short illness, said Golson’s longtime agent, Jason Franklin.
Over his seven-decade musical career, Golson worked with some of the biggest luminaries in jazz, including Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton and John Coltrane. He built much of his reputation not as a performer but from his compositions, which also included “I Remember Clifford,” written in 1956 after trumpeter Clifford Brown, a friend, died in a car crash at age 25.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Golson began learning the piano at age 9 and switched to the saxophone at age 14. He was still in high school when he started performing with other local musicians, including Coltrane, a childhood friend.
Golson began writing and arranging music while attending Howard University.
After stints in Gillespie’s big band and in drummer Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Golson co-founded The Jazztet in 1959 with flugelhorn master Art Farmer.
The Jazztet disbanded in 1962, and Golson moved on to writing music for movies and for television shows such as “Mannix,” “M-A-S-H” and “Mission: Impossible.” He also arranged music for performers including Peggy Lee, Lou Rawls and Dusty Springfield.
After a hiatus of more than a dozen years, Golson resumed playing the saxophone in the mid-1970s and launched a new version of the Jazztet with Farmer in 1982. He continued performing and writing music into his 90s.
He published “Whisper Not: The Autobiography of Benny Golson” in 2016.
Franklin, who worked with Golson for 25 years, said Golson stopped performing when COVID-19 shut down music venues in 2020 but continued working on projects, such as giving interviews for a forthcoming documentary, “Benny Golson: Looking Beyond The Horizon.”
Franklin said Golson saw a rough cut of the film a few weeks ago and loved it. “He was so happy he got to see it,” he said.
Golson released dozens of albums as a solo artist and as a member of various ensembles.
He appeared as himself in the 2004 Steven Spielberg movie “The Terminal,” in which the main character, played by Tom Hanks, travels to New York from a fictional Eastern European country to obtain Golson’s autograph, which he needs to complete a collection of signatures of all of the 58 jazz musicians who assembled for the famous 1958 group photo “A Great Day in Harlem.”
Actor and musician Steve Martin recalled the film scene in a post on X on Sunday and said, “Thanks for all of the great music.”
With Golson’s death, Sonny Rollins is the last living subject of the photo who was an adult when it was taken.
Golson’s survivors include his wife, Bobbie Golson, daughter Brielle Golson and several grandchildren. Three sons preceded him in death.
veryGood! (6179)
Related
- 2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
- US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas to lie in state at Houston city hall
- Quake rattles Southern California desert communities, no immediate reports of damage
- MLB trade deadline rumors heat up: Top players available, what to know
- Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds
- Beacon may need an agent, but you won't see the therapy dog with US gymnasts in Paris
- Noah Lyles doubles down on belief he’s fastest man in the world: 'It's me'
- American swimmer Nic Fink wins silver in men's 100 breaststroke at Paris Olympics
- Don't let hackers fool you with a 'scam
- Oprah addresses Gayle King affair rumors: 'People used to say we were gay'
Ranking
- Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
- Horoscopes Today, July 29, 2024
- LIV Golf and the 2024 Paris Olympics: Are LIV players eligible?
- Swarm of dragonflies startles beachgoers in Rhode Island
- Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
- As Wildfire Season Approaches, Phytoplankton Take On Fires’ Trickiest Emissions
- Iowa now bans most abortions after about 6 weeks, before many women know they’re pregnant
- Browns QB Deshaun Watson continues to make a complete fool of himself
Recommendation
McKinsey to pay $650 million after advising opioid maker on how to 'turbocharge' sales
Chase Budinger, Miles Evans inspired by US support group in beach volleyball win
'Deadpool & Wolverine' pulverizes a slew of records with $205M opening
All the Athletes Who Made History During the 2024 Paris Olympics
What to know about Tuesday’s US House primaries to replace Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz
'Mothers' Instinct': Biggest changes between book and Anne Hathaway movie
Olympic Games use this Taylor Swift 'Reputation' song in prime-time ad
Team USA Water Polo Star Maggie Steffens' Sister-in-Law Dies After Traveling to Paris Olympics