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Jazz and Blues Whisper Not: The Autobiography of Benny Golson. By Benny Golson and Jim Merod. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2016. 335pp (hardcover) ISBN 978-14399-1333-8
Having performed to international acclaim over the course of a career that is now in its eighth decade, and with dozens of albums recorded as a leader, tenor saxophonist and composer Benny Golson holds a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and has been recognized as a NEA Jazz Master. His output as a composer, including such jazz standards as "Killer Joe," "Whisper Not," "I Remember Clifford," "Blues March," "Along Came Betty," and "Stablemates," makes him one of the most significant contributors to the development of what has been termed the hard bop style of jazz. His is a lyrical composition style that has elements in common with that of Tadd Dameron and Gigi Gryce (he worked closely with both), and Golson has often created compositions that seem conventional but actually contain fascinating structural twists. In addition to his jazz career, Golson has also worked successfully as a Hollywood film and television composer and arranger.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Golson grew up with other future jazz notables such as fellow saxophonists John Coltrane, Bill Barron, and Jimmy Heath, and he was an eager devotee of the new jazz style of bebop when it was first presented in his hometown by its pioneers, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and alto saxophonist Charlie Parker. After working in a variety of bands, including those of Bull Moose Jackson, Tiny Grimes, and Earl Bostic, Golson served as a member of Dizzy Gillespie's big band before joining drummer Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1958. There, as musical director, he was given free rein to reorganize the band's personnel and repertoire. The new musicians that he brought in from his own hometown of Philadelphia and the compositions he wrote for the Blue Note LP Moanin' set the ensemble style that Blakey maintained for the rest of his long career.
After leaving Blakey, Golson co-led a sextet featuring trumpeter Art Farmer (and, in its original incarnation, trombonist Curtis Fuller and pianist McCoy Tyner) that was his recording and touring outlet from 1959 to 1962. After its disbanding, he continued to perform and record, both as a leader and...