NEA Jazz Master, Grammy-nominated tenor saxophonist and composer Benny Golson died Saturday, September 21, 2024 at his home in Manhattan. He was 95.
Golson’s longtime manager and agent, Jason Franklin, said the legendary saxophonist died after a short illness.
Early on, Benny Golson was a member of Dizzy Gillespie‘s band, and also worked with Lionel Hampton, Art Blakey and Johnny Hodges. As a composer, he wrote some of the most memorable songs in jazz, including “I Remember Clifford,” “Whisper Not,” “Along Came Betty” and “Killer Joe.”
Golson also wrote scores for TV shows, including M*A*S*H, Mission: Impossible and Cosby. On screen, he even had a cameo in the feature film The Terminal: When a hapless traveler played by Tom Hanks is finally released from airport purgatory, he heads straight to a club to meet Golson, one of his idols.
The jazz giant also enjoyed a memorable stint as a leader in the jazz world. In 1959, Golson and trumpeter Art Farmer founded a six-person ensemble called the Jazztet. The Jazztet became one of the most popular small groups of its era.
Golson 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.
