Jazz Articles about Benny Golson

Benny Golson: Terminal 1

by Eric J. Iannelli
June 8, 2004

Benny Golson Terminal 1 Concord 2004

Benny Golson is indisputably a fine tenor saxophonist, but at the end of his already long career he will probably be best remembered for the quality and breadth of his songwriting. His compositions have run the gamut, from scores for television and film to jazz standards such as “Killer Joe” and the bittersweet dirge “I Remember Clifford;” and with the exception of this last, they are ...

Brother Jack McDuff: Prelude

by C. Michael Bailey
October 21, 2003

If you, the gentle listener, were to ever tire of Jimmy Smith following an overdose of the master’s Blue Note catalog, I would direct you to anything by Brother Jack McDuff. A native of Champaign, IL, McDuff cut his teeth with Willis Jackson and Jimmy Forrest and helped a young George Benson get started. McDuff supported Gene Ammons, Grant Green, Kenny Burrell, and Hank Crawford with his rock-steady time and spot-on bass-pedaling. Prelude is the re-release of McDuff’s 1964 big ...

Jack McDuff Big Band: Prelude

by David Rickert
October 5, 2003

McDuff was one of the artists able to capitalize on the success of Jimmy Smith, who briefly made organ combos fashionable in the sixties. Prelude is the third in a series of McDuff compilations that comb his prolific Prestige years for the best material. Whereas the first two were split between live and studio recordings, this recent disc covers the tracks recorded with a big band under the leadership of Benny Golson.

This new approach was an ...

Benny Golson: Setting Standards

by C. Andrew Hovan
October 4, 2003

Great jazz artists have always set themselves apart in two areas: They display a highly developed degree of instrumental prowess, coupled with an unmistakably individual voice. Far more elusive, however, is that proverbial needle in the haystack: the jazz player who not only speaks with 'lan, but also composes his own distinctive material. One of the few remaining jazz luminaries to belong to this latter, more select pack is Benny Golson, known not only for his robust tenor saxophone stylings, ...

Benny Golson: Setting Standards

by C. Andrew Hovan
January 23, 2003

Great jazz artists have always set themselves apart in two areas: They display a highly developed degree of instrumental prowess, coupled with an unmistakably individual voice. Far more elusive, however, is that proverbial needle in the haystack: the jazz player who not only speaks with 'lan, but also composes his own distinctive material. One of the few remaining jazz luminaries to belong to this latter, more select pack is Benny Golson, known not only for his robust tenor saxophone stylings, ...

Benny Golson Quintet: That's Funky

by AAJ Staff
January 22, 2003

Looking back past the rule of Parliament to the age of Horace Silver, Benny Golson’s That's Funky pays tribute to Louis Armstrong through two renditions of his popular favorite “Mack the Knife." While the opening “funky version" starts off a bit sluggish and includes some pinched soloing by Nat Adderley, Monty Alexander’s firm comps make it swing and Golson’s smooth lines give it at least three pennies worth of class. On the “modern bebop version," Adderley’s lines are much more ...

Benny Golson: One Day, Forever

by AAJ Staff
May 1, 2001

Benny Golson’s latest Arkadia release, One Day, Forever, arose from a taping of some of Golson’s previous band members from the Jazztet: Art Farmer and Curtis Fuller. At the end of a European tour, they were so rushed they that they didn’t record long enough to fill an entire CD. Arkadia owner Bob Karcy kept the tape in the can, and he and Golson kept that recording in mind, in the intervening five years, during which Farmer passed. After Golson ...