TERRY GROSS, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF BENNY GOLSON AND ART FARMER'S "KILLER JOE")
GROSS: The great composer and saxophonist Benny Golson died last month at the age of 95. Many of his works became almost instant jazz classics in the late '50s. And he composed internal music for hit TV shows, including the Mod Squad, and even appeared as himself in the Steven Spielberg movie. Guest jazz critic Martin Johnson takes a look back and suggests that Golson's music is still very much with us.
(SOUNDBITE OF BENNY GOLSON AND ART FARMER'S "KILLER JOE")
MARTIN JOHNSON: That's "Killer Joe," one of the many classics from the pen of composer and saxophonist Benny Golson, a master of capturing the sunny optimism of America in the late '50s and early '60s. The song could be a soundtrack for cruising in a convertible on a sunny day. Golson wrote a lot of music that felt both emblematic of its time yet simultaneously timeless. And he recorded these songs with some of the best musicians of the era.
(SOUNDBITE OF ART BLAKEY AND THE JAZZ MESSENGERS' "ALONG CAME BETTY")
JOHNSON: Here's another Golson classic, "Along Came Betty," Golson on tenor with Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers recorded in 1958. The Betty of the title was a woman of interest for Golson. And the tune, with its relaxed, almost nonchalant groove, is sophisticated and restrained. It savors the potential affection in the relationship rather than just blaring lust. Golson's work is identified as hard bop, but he knew a soft side, too.
(SOUNDBITE OF ART BLAKEY AND THE JAZZ MESSENGERS' "ALONG CAME BETTY")
JOHNSON: Golson's genius for melody made his music cool and approachable for the listener. Yet these songs were full of challenges for the player. His tune "Whisper Not" starts in one key and ends in another, kind of like a conversational scene in a movie that changes setting without losing the thread.
(SOUNDBITE OF BENNY GOLSON'S "WHISPER NOT")
JOHNSON: "Whisper Not" has a great march-like shout chorus, a flourish Golson picked up from the big bands. He began his career playing in orchestras led by legends like Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie.
(SOUNDBITE OF BENNY GOLSON'S "WHISPER NOT")
JOHNSON: Benny Golson was born in Philadelphia and grew up in a hotbed of jazz activity. His peers included greats like trumpeter Lee Morgan, the Heath Brothers - saxophonist Jimmy and bassist Percy - as well as many others from nearby locales, including Clifford Brown, who was from Delaware and died tragically in an automobile accident on the Pennsylvania turnpike when he was only 25. Golson's best-known piece, "I Remember Clifford," is a threnody, a brooding lament for Brown.
(SONDBITE OF BENNY GOLSON'S "I REMEMBER CLIFFORD")
JOHNSON: When the jazz economy contracted severely in the mid- and late '60s, Golson went to Hollywood, like his colleagues Oliver Nelson and Lalo Schifrin, who composed the famous theme for the show "Mission Impossible." Golson composed internal music for that show, as well as hits like "Room 222" and "The Partridge Family." Ironically, it was the rise of rock that diminished opportunities for musicians like Golson, yet he rebounded by writing music for a show that featured rock.
Years later, Golson appeared as himself in the 2004 Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones movie, "The Terminal." By this time, Golson had returned to the bandstand. He reunited his group, the Jazztet, and recorded several fine records, most notably "Moment To Moment" in 1983.
As he aged, Golson's saxophone style didn't mellow. It became more gruff and acerbic, as if he was reaching further back toward his early idols, the raucous rhythm and blues stylings of Arnett Cobb, whose music first enraptured Golson as a youth. Here's the title track from "Moment To Moment."
(SOUNDBITE OF THE JAZZTET'S "MOMENT TO MOMENT")
JOHNSON: According to the Lord discography, Golson's songs have been covered more than 1,000 times. The range includes classic performances of "Whisper Not" by Ella Fitzgerald and Al Jarreau to newcomers like the collective trio Thumbscrew, whose avant-garde approach and stylings are a perfect fit for Golson's "Stablemates," proving that his music, though emblematic of an era, is also timeless.
(SOUNDBITE OF THUMBSCREW'S "STABLEMATES")
JOHNSON: Golson wrote that tune in 1955, and Miles Davis recorded it shortly afterward. But it's easy to hear the connection between versions done more than 60 years later and the original, done here by Golson in 1958. It's a connection that musicians will be drawing again and again for a long, long time.
(SOUNDBITE OF BENNY GOLSON'S "STABLEMATES")
GROSS: Martin Johnson writes about jazz for the Wall Street Journal. If you'd like to catch up on FRESH AIR interviews you missed, like this week's interviews with Al Pacino and Alex Van Halen, check out our podcast. You'll find lots of FRESH AIR interviews.
(SOUNDBITE OF BENNY GOLSON'S "STABLEMATES")
GROSS: And to find out what's happening behind the scenes of our show and get our producers' recommendations for what to watch, read and listen to, subscribe to our free newsletter at whyy.org/freshair.
FRESH AIR's executive producer is Danny Miller. Our technical director is Audrey Bentham. Our engineer is Adam Staniszewski. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Phyllis Myers, Roberta Shorrock, Ann Marie Baldonado, Sam Briger, Lauren Krenzel, Therese Madden, Monique Nazareth, Susan Nyakundi and Anna Bauman. Our digital media producers are Molly Seavy-Nesper and Sabrina Seiwert. Thea Chaloner directed today's show. Our co-host is Tonya Mosley. I'm Terry Gross.
(SOUNDBITE OF BENNY GOLSON'S "STABLEMATES") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.