Benny Golson

American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger, born in Philadelphia, PA on January 25, 1929. Died September 21, 2024 in Manhattan, New York.
While in high school in Philadelphia, Golson played with contemporaries including John Coltrane, Red Garland, Jimmy Heath, Percy Heath, "Philly" Joe Jones, and Red Rodney. After graduating from Howard University, Golson joined Bull Moose Jackson's rhythm and blues band; Tadd Dameron, whom Golson came to consider the most important influence on his writing, was Jackson's pianist at the time.
From 1953, Golson performed with the bands of Lionel Hampton, Johnny Hodges, Earl Bostic, Dizzy Gillespie, and Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, briefly serving as the Messenger's music director.
In 1956, after trumpeter Clifford Brown died in a car accident, Golson composed "I Remember Clifford" as a tribute. Golson composed other jazz standards around this time, such as "Stablemates", "Killer Joe", "Whisper Not", "Along Came Betty", and "Are You Real?"
From 1959 to 1962, Golson co-led the Jazztet with Art Farmer which featured McCoy Tyner before he joined Coltrane's quartet. Golson then left jazz to concentrate on studio and orchestral work for 12 years. During this period, he composed music for such television shows as "Ironside", "Room 222", "M*A*S*H", and "Mission: Impossible". In the mid-1970s, Golson returned to performing and recording jazz. In 1983, he revived the Jazztet.
In 1995, Golson received the NEA Jazz Masters Award of the National Endowment for the Arts. In October 2007, he received the Mellon Living Legend Legacy Award as well as the University of Pittsburgh International Academy of Jazz Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award. In November 2009, Benny was inducted into the International Academy of Jazz Hall of Fame.