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Remembering Benny Golson: Killer Joe
Born in Philadelphia in 1929, Golson befriended local boy John Coltrane and the two formed a lasting friendship. Recalling his teenage years in Whisper Not: The Autobiography Of Benny Golson (Temple University, 2016), Golson related the impact of seeing the Lionel Hampton band, and Dizzy Gillespie with Charlie Parker when they came to town: "This lyrical thunder, this majestic, joyful sound, changed my life."
Lyrical, majestic, joyful—adjectives that describe Golson's own music very well. Not for nothing have Golson's compositions such as "I Remember Clifford," "Stablemates," Whisper Not," "Along Came Betty" and "Killer Joe" become bonafide jazz standards. Nor does a day go by without Golson's music reaching the ears of millions of people, his writing and arranging featuring in hit TV shows that run on an endless loop such as Mission Impossible and M*A*S*H.
Golson would play with Gillespie, Art Blakey—for whom he was a highly influential musical director—Art Farmer and countless others during his distinguished career.
In humble homage to Benny Golson, one-time, long-time Jazz Messenger, we offer one of his best loved tunes, "Killer Joe."
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