Biography
Benny Golson was an American jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger. Born in Philadelphia on 25 January 1929, he came to prominence in the 1950s playing with the bands of Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, and as a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. He co-founded and co-led the hard bop group the Jazztet with Art Farmer from 1959 to 1962, and wrote several jazz standards including 'I Remember Clifford', 'Whisper Not', 'Blues March', 'Stablemates' and 'Killer Joe'.
In the mid-1960s Golson moved to Los Angeles and spent around a decade writing and arranging music for television and film. His credits include scores for the series Mission: Impossible (1966), MASH (1972), The Mod Squad and The Partridge Family, as well as the 1969 film Where It's At*. He returned to New York and jazz performance in the 1970s, re-forming the Jazztet in 1982. Golson died in Manhattan on 21 September 2024, aged 95.
