Benny Golson

The Jazztet and John Lewis ft. Art Farmer and Benny Golson (1961) {2013 Japan Jazz The Best Series 24-bit Remaster UCCU-9749}
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© 1961, 2013 Argo / Verve / Universal Japan | UCCU-9749
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Cool

Features 24 bit remastering and limited edition. Release Date: December 04, 2013. The idea of the Jazztet playing arrangements by John Lewis written especially for them is intriguing. According to Gene Lees' liner notes, Art Farmer first approached Lewis about writing something for the sextet, to which the composer replied that he'd rather score an entire record. Even though the Jazztet and Lewis' own group, the Modern Jazz Quartet, are dissimilar in many ways, the marriage is a successful one.

Benny Golson - The Modern Touch (1957) {Riverside OJCCD-1797-2 rel 1992}
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© 1957, 1992 Riverside Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-1797-2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Saxophone

Benny Golson's second album as a leader (reissued on CD in the OJC series) is a solid hard bop date featuring the tenorman in a quintet with trumpeter Kenny Dorham, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Max Roach. The all-star group performs three Golson originals (none of which really caught on), a pair of Gigi Gryce tunes (best known is "Hymn to the Orient") and the standard "Namely You." Excellent playing on an above-average set that defines the modern mainstream of 1957 jazz.

Benny Golson (born January 25, 1929) is an American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger.
While in high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Golson played with several other promising young musicians, 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.

Benny Golson and Curtis Fuller, who go back to their Jazztet days in the 1950s and 1960s, are reunited in this great bop-oriented album. Recorded in 1998, it features the quintet with Benny Green on piano, Dwayne Burno on bass, and Joe Farnsworth on drums. Plus, on the opening track, special guests Jimmy McGriff and Wayne Boyd play the Hammond B-3 and guitar, respectively. It is great to hear the two principals blow their horns with authority and age-defying power. The highlight of the CD is the medium-tempo blues "South Street Jam" with McGriff on the B-3. Drenched in the soulful essence of the blues, everybody shines!

The Jazztet had been in existence for two years when they recorded what would be their final LPs, this date plus Another Git Together. The personnel (other than the two co-leaders flugelhornist Art Farmer and tenor-saxophonist Benny Golson) had completely changed since 1960 but the group sound was the same. The 1962 version of the Jazztet included trombonist Grachan Moncur III, pianist Harold Mabern, bassist Herbie Lewis and drummer Roy McCurdy and it is remarkable to think that this talent-filled group could not find enough jobs in order to stay together. Highlights of their excellent out-of-print LP include Ray Bryant's "Tonk," "Whisper Not," "Just in Time" and Thelonious Monk's "Ruby My Dear." A classic if short-lived hard bop group.

Tying in with his cameo appearance in Steven Spielberg's film The Terminal, saxophonist Benny Golson returns with Terminal 1. Featuring more of his sophisticated and swinging tunes, the album finds Golson in top form on some of his best compositions in years. Joining him on the front line here are esteemed trumpeter Eddie Henderson, deft pianist Mike LeDonne, bassist Buster Williams, and drummer Carl Allen. The title track is a mid-'60s-sounding angular piece designed to bring to mind the hustle of airports. Similarly engaging is the gorgeous ballad "Park Avenue Petite," which allows for some burnished melodicism from Henderson. It is also nice to hear Golson and company dig into the under-recorded standard "Cherry." Calling to mind the best Blue Note-era recordings, Terminal 1 is one flight of fancy not to be missed.