Benny Golson
Killer Joe
George, Over a seven-decade career, Benny Golson exhibited a combination of grace, warmth and technical virtuosity influenced in part by his Philadelphia childhood friend John Coltrane. He was a prolific composer, creating jazz standards like Whisper Not, I Remember Clifford and Killer Joe. While living in Los Angeles, he wrote for TV shows including “Mannix,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Room 222” and “M.A.S.H.,” and he arranged music for singers as diverse as Peggy Lee, Lou Rawls and Dusty Springfield.
In 1959, after touring with Art Blakey for a year, Mr. Golson and trumpeter Art Farmer founded the Jazztet, one of the premier “hard bop” jazz groups of the era. He appeared in perhaps the most famous photograph of jazz musicians ever made, “A Great Day in Harlem,” taken by Art Kane in 1958, and was featured in an Oscar-nominated 1994 documentary about the photo, directed by Jean Bach. He was one of the last two surviving musicians among the 57 in the picture. (Sonny Rollins is now the last man standing). Benny died at the age of 95 this month.
If you have the time, here are a couple of great videos: A tribute to his compositions:
https://youtu.be/g9Frmzzdf1Q?
The Jazztet live in 1982
https://youtu.be/rumaonfAMvo?
and in 1995
https://youtu.be/I__tKDRFAM0?
and here is my favorite, "Killer Joe"
