BENNY GOLSON: Golden Standards Vol.1

“In my experience of some thirty years of writing about and recording musicians, Benny Golson stands out as a man whose musical skills and capacities are extraordinarily wide-ranging. He is consistently resourceful in terms of creativity, as well as being a thorough professional. His conscientiousness, the high standards he always sets for himself, and his total reliability are qualities that account for the prominence he has attained – along with, of course, his prodigious musicianship as a composer, arranger and performer. Benny Golson continually impresses me with the freshness of his musical conceptions. But I am never surprised that they always work exactly as he says they will, because they always do.” – John S Wilson, Jazz Critic, The New York Times At the peak of his musical powers, Benny Golson recorded a number of projects for Arkadia Records. Among those recording sessions, he performed 17 of his original compositions, including his most famous songs, many of which became Jazz Standards. This commemorative release presents a retrospective of his historic career starting 70 years ago when he joined the Tadd Dameron band in 1953, then forming The Jazztet with Art Farmer in 1959. Inspired by his friend, noted trumpeter Clifford Brown, who died in a car accident in 1956 at the age of 25, he wrote one of his most famous songs, I Remember Clifford, followed by numerous standards including Stablemates, Killer Joe, Blues March, Whisper Not, Along Came Betty and Are You Real?, all of which are included in this project Song Selection Blues Alley – 3:51 Whisper Not – 8:14 Sad to Say– 4:36 Blue Walk – 5:28 Gypsy Jingle Jangle – 6:48 Blues March – 6:02 In Memory Of – 6:09 Killer Joe – 7:37 Out of the Past – 5:50 Produced by: Bob Karcy Total Time: 55 minutes Benny Golson – tenor saxophone (all tracks)Art Farmer – trumpet (1, 4, 8, 9)Curtis Fuller – trombone (1, 4, 8, 9)Geoff Keezer – piano (1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9)Dwayne Burno – upright bass (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9)Carl Allen – drums (1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9)Ray Drummond – upright bass (6)Marvin “Smitty” Smith – drums (6)Shirley Horn – vocals (3)Ron Carter – upright bass (3)Mulgrew Miller – piano (3)Monty Alexander – piano (6)Kevin Hays – piano (5)Joe Farnsworth – drums (2, 7)James Carter – tenor saxophone (2)Nat Adderley – trumpet (6) What the Critics Say: “…Mr. Golson’s tenor-saxophone playing was often stunning. There is a lot of Coleman Hawkins in his playing — perhaps more than in any other living saxophonist — and it’s lovely to hear such a refined, manly prewar version of harmonic modernism.” – Ben Ratliff, The New York Times “…The tenor saxophonist’s approach remains fresh and filled with vitality...” – Ken Franckling, UPI Newswire About Benny Golson: Benny Golson (1929-2024) was a multi-talented and internationally famous jazz legend, – a composer, arranger, lyricist, producer – and tenor saxophonist of world note. Raised with an impeccable musical pedigree, Golson has played in the bands of world famous Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Earl Bostic and Art Blakey. Composer/Arranger/Performing Artist: Few jazz musicians can claim to be true innovators and even fewer can boast of a performing and recording career that literally redefines the term “Jazz.” A prodigious writer, Golson has written well over 300 compositions. Benny Golson has made major contributions to the world of music with such jazz standards as: “Killer Joe”, “I Remember Clifford”, “Along Came Betty”, “Stablemates”, “Whisper Not”, “Blues March”, “Five Spot After Dark”, and “Are you Real” Benny Golson has written 8 standards for jazz repertoire. These jazz standards have found their way into countless recordings internationally over the years and are still being recorded. He has recorded over 30 albums, including six for Arkadia Records, in the United States and Europe under his own name and innumerable ones with other major artists. For more than 60 years, Golson has enjoyed an illustrious, musical career in which he has not only made scores of recordings but has also composed and arranged music for: Count Basie, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Sammy Davis Jr., Mama Cass Elliott, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Shirley Horn, David Jones and the Monkees, Quincy Jones, Peggy Lee, Carmen McRae, Anita O’Day, Itzhak Perlman, Oscar Peterson, Lou Rawls, Mickey Rooney, Diana Ross, The Animals (Eric Burden), Mel Torme, George Shearing, and Dusty Springfield. His prolific writing includes scores for hit TV series and films: “M*A*S*H”, “Mannix”, “Mission Impossible”, “Mod Squad”, “Room 222”, “Run for Your Life”, “The Partridge Family”, “The Academy Awards”, and “The Karen Valentine Show”, Television specials for ABC, CBS and NBC. Television specials for BBC in London and Copenhagen, Denmark. Theme for Bill Cosby’s last TV show, and A french film ‘Des Femmes Disparaissent” (Paris) He has written music for national radio and television spots for some of the major advertising agencies in the country. Some of these commercials were for: Borateem, Canada Dry, Carnation, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Clorox, Dodge, General Telephone, Gillette, Heinz Foods, Jack in The Box, Liquid Plum’r, MacDonald’s, Mattel Toys, Monsanto, Nissan, Ohrbachs, Ore-Ida Frozen Potatoes, Parliament Cigarettes, Pepsi Cola, and Texaco. Educator: Benny Golson had absolute mastery of the jazz medium. He had not only blazed a trail in the world of jazz but was passionate about teaching jazz to young and old alike. He has lectured at the Lincoln Center through a special series by Wynton Marsalis. He has lectured to doctoral candidates at New York University and to the faculty at National University at San Diego. Honored with doctorates from William Paterson College, Wayne, NJ and Berklee School of Music, Boston, MA, Dr. Golson has also conducted workshops and clinics at: Appalachian University, Boone, NC Berklee School fo Music, Boston, MA Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY Howard University, Washington, DC Julliard School of Music, New York, NY Manhattan School of Music, New York, NY New England Conservatory Paris Conservatory, Paris, France Rutgers University, New Orleans, LA Stanford University, Stanford, CA University of Denver, Denver, CO University of Idaho, Moscow, ID University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, Appleton, WI William Paterson College, Wayne, NJ Golson’s musical odyssey has taken him around the world. In 1987 he was sent by the US State Department on a cultural tour of Southeast Asia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma, Singapore. Later, Philip Morris International sent him on an assignment to Bangkok, Thailand to write music for the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra. He received a Guggenheim Grant in 1995, was given an American Jazz Masters Award by the NEA in 1996, and honored at Lincoln Center in 2001 with a concert, “The Magic of Benny Golson.” He worked with Steven Spielberg on the 2004 film The Terminal in which he made a brief appearance. A live performer who consistently knocked audiences off their feet, Benny Golson has given hundreds of performances in the USA, Europe, South America, the Far East and Japan. This humble musical giant made prodigious contributions to the world of Jazz.