Jazz Master Tribute: Benny Golson (Part One)
Benny Golson, tenor saxophone stylist and jazz composer of first rank, never rested on his laurels. When I wrote this feature on him in 2008, the elder statesman of jazz was almost 80.
"At this late date,” he told me, “I still find music to be an adventure. There are things that I haven't done yet. I don't want to look at what happened, I want to look at what's coming up. When I wake up, I intuitively ask myself: what can I discover today that I didn't know about yesterday? That makes it an adventure. And jazz is all about improvisation. Nobody comes to hear the melody chorus after chorus; after the melody, they want to know what you've got on your mind. What is your impression of this tune? What feelings do you get from it?"
Listening to Benny Golson speak, whether waxing philosophical or musicological, sharing hilarious stories or recounting difficult periods, induces feelings quite similar to those his tunes evoke. He's dignified, eloquent, and melodic. He evinces a graceful humility and down-to-earth manner. He's one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. But according to his long-time pianist Mike LeDonne, Golson's modest demeanor belies the fact that he's also a genius.
These attributes of spirit, mind, and voice were honed in Philadelphia, where he was born on Jan. 25, 1929. He began playing piano at nine, desiring to become a concert recitalist. But at age 14 he heard Texas-born tenor saxophonist Arnett Cobb perform "Flying Home" with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra and the piano began to pale. His mom, always supportive, had financed his piano lessons. When he asked for a sax, she obliged, paying by lay-away.
By 16, he was participating in practice sessions with other notable jazz apprentices of his generation: pianist Ray Bryant, trumpeter Johnny Coles and saxophonists Jimmy Heath and John Coltrane. Many of those sessions took place in Golson's living room in Philly. On one occasion, he and Coltrane were listening to Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker records after being told that their gig had been called off . . . an hour-and-a-half before the hit.
"I was in high school and we had a job with one of the local big bands, Jimmy Johnson and His Ambassadors. My mother comes in and asks, 'Why do you have those long faces?' We told her our gig was cancelled. 'Nobody cancels a gig that close to the job! I betcha they're playing without you.' I can still hear John, with his naiveté, say, 'Oh no, Mrs. Golson, they wouldn't do that.' She says, 'Look, if it were me I'd go up there and see.'
Sure enough, the lads discovered that their spots had been taken. "We walked home and John says, you were right, Ms. Golson. She saw we were in such pain that she came over and squeezed us and said, 'Don't worry baby, one day you all will be so good that they won't be able to afford you.' We didn't believe it.
"Years later, we're playing at the Newport Jazz Festival and John was in the tent warming up on his soprano. He had just recorded My Favorite Things with his quartet. And Art Farmer and I had formed the Jazztet. Suddenly he took the horn out of his mouth and started laughing. He said, 'Remember what your mother told us? Well those guys are still in Philadelphia and we're here!"
College Years
After high school, Golson attended Howard University in Washington, DC, where, in the late '40s, jazz was not tolerated. He couldn't even play his saxophone at the audition, only clarinet and piano. In less than three years he left Howard in disgust. (Ironically, Howard honored him a half century since and has established a scholarship in his name.) He had already begun to compose and his attitude about the musical rules his teachers were trying to impose was, "Well, can't you break the rules if that helps you accomplish what you're trying to achieve?"
One of his most famous songs, "Killer Joe," is a prime example. Unlike the common five (dominant) chord to one (tonic) chord progression, "the dominant didn't go back to the tonic. I went from the sixth to the tonic. Now, everybody knows that tune. If the ear accepts it, that's it! You can iconoclastically set those rules to the side."
He left Howard University, moved back to Philly, got married to his first wife and worked music gigs on the weekend. During the week he drove a truck and even got a job in a lampshade factory for extra money. Benjamin "Bull Moose" Jackson, an R&B singer and saxophonist, brought his band to town and needed a sax man. Golson began touring with the group, which had pianist Tadd Dameron, drummer Philly Joe Jones, trumpeter Johnny Coles and bassist Jymie Merritt. (A few years later, Golson brought Merritt into Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers along with fellow Philly men Lee Morgan and Bobby Timmons).
Dameron became a huge influence on Golson's writing. Duke Ellington's compositions and Count Basie's arrangers were significant too, "but Tadd was actually showing me things at the piano. He did an arrangement for Duke and he let me copy it, because I wanted to see what he was doing."
From 1953 through 1954 Golson performed with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, there meeting Art Farmer, Clifford Brown and Quincy Jones. Then, following a few years with Earl Bostic—a technical saxophone master—he got a call from Quincy Jones to join Dizzy Gillespie's band. That year, 1956, began a period of creative fecundity for Golson. His writing and compositional talent began to be recognized. Coltrane had joined Miles Davis, who needed a tune for a Prestige record label date. For Miles, Golson gave Coltrane "Stablemates," a song that refers to a jazz club in Boston called the "Stables" and musician friends from that venue. Instead of the usual 8- or 16-bar sequence, it goes to the bridge after 14 measures. "I ran into John on Columbia Avenue in Philly and he told me Miles dug it so much that he recorded it! Miles validated me. That got me started as a jazz composer."
We at Tune In To Leadership are so proud that Mr. Golson is a regular reader of our blog. We love you, Benny.
Greg and Jewel with radio host Awilda Rivera and Benny Golson at WBGO studio in Newark, NJ
In part two, we’ll gain some personal insights and discover more about the artistic journey of a true living grandmaster of jazz, Benny Golson.