Benny Golson Jr. by Alvin Carter Bey

American Jazz Saxophonist, Composer, Educator BENNY GOLSON

January 25, 1929

Benny Golson was born on January 25, 1929, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This interview was conducted on the radio by DJ Alvin Carter-Bey.

ACB: We have on the live line, here at WHPK, a young man who knew the great John Coltrane, very well. A legendary composer, the one and only Mr. Benny Golson. Next line. Mr. Golson, how are you, Sir? BG: If I were doing any better, I’d be like you. ACB: You are such a wonderful person. And you knew John Coltrane well. BG: I knew him extremely well. We knew each other from teenagers on up the line. ACB: In respect to the arts, what type of person was he, even as a teenager? BG: Usually, he was in kind of a quiet period. He didn’t have a lot to say, until he put that saxophone in his mouth. ACB: And what happened? He blew everybody away. Even today, a lot of his music is just being transcribed in some way-out method. Some people thought he was too way out and too far ahead. BG: Oh, you’re always going to have that. You know, you can’t please everybody. And people should feel free to have their opinions. The whole world has opinions. There is nothing we can do about that. Sometimes, they are right. Sometimes, they’re wrong. Nevertheless, we’re surrounded by opinions that affect our lives, every day. ACB: So, what about the music we call jazz? So much controversy has come from that. BG: Why do people bother themselves with titles? Somebody asked Miles that years ago and his answer was profound. He said, “I don’t title it. I just play it.” People get so involved in names and categories that they miss the music, which is about feelings. We’re not playing musical arithmetic in categories and where it fits on a shelf. Whatever we feel comes out, like when we talk, like I’m talking to you, now. I haven’t rehearsed what I’m going to say to you. I’m talking off the top of my head. Jazz is about talking off the top of our heads, stating whatever occurs to us at the time. Improvisation is what jazz is about. People who pursue titles, categories, and groups miss the music. They can talk about categories, but they can’t talk about the music. I just play the music. I play what I feel. I’m hampered if I’m trying to play in a certain niche or category. Oh, my goodness. ACB: Last night, you gave us a description of the song Along Came Betty. Repeat that to our WHPK audience. BG: Oh, I can’t repeat that whole thing, but we play songs and create things because we are motivated by certain people and incidents. It can be something that you remember in your mind. It can be a smell. It can be the voice of a child. It can be the voice of your wife, whom you love. We can be motivated to write because of many things and it’s wonderful. That’s what makes it such an adventure. ACB: I read that Charlie Parker thought the same about music as you described. Bird thought a great deal of Lester Young, bought all of his music,

Jazz is about talking off the top of our heads, stating whatever occurs to us at the time.

and copied Lester note for note. Who inspired you? Who were some of your favorite artists?

BG: Oh, many, many, and not just saxophone players. Piano players, trumpet players, trombone players, and base players inspired me. I

have many favorites. But it doesn’t determine what I do. I do what I do. I’m not in the business of pursuing what somebody else does to imitate them. I developed my own voice and took it forward. Should one spend his whole life imitating somebody else? No, I’m much broader than that. ACB: You have done some great things for this American Classical Music that I call Jazz. Along Came Betty and I Remember Clifford is one of the greatest jazz ballads ever composed. BG: I hear that a lot but I don’t quite understand it. ACB: Really, you don’t? BG: No. I’m glad about it. But, in my head, I don’t really understand it. There are so many beautiful ballads. My favorite is ‘Round Midnight [by Monk]. dear friend. He and John Coltrane were something. That broke my heart when he died. I had to write something. It took me almost two weeks to write that. ACB: We’re talking to the one and only living legend and composer, Mr. Benny Golson, who is in our town at the Jazz Showcase on South Plymouth Court. I think this is your last day here, isn’t it, sir? BG: My last day here? You’re talking about my last day on earth? ACB: No, no, you’re last night in Chicago. We said you’ve got a long way to go. When people see this cat, Benny Golson, they swear he’s not a day over 45. He’s got a lot of strength and energy that he cooks with on stage. BG: Well, that’s what some people think. The youngsters are hardpressing us and that’s how it should things are old and thrown into the garbage. Just move them aside on the same shelf. Louie Armstrong is not dead. Just move him aside and make room for the new things. They’re on the same shelf. ACB: You did some great things on Blue Note with Art Blakely and the Jazz Messengers. How long were you with that group with Lee Morgan, Bobby Timmons, and Jymie Merritt? BG: About one year. There was the matter of recruiting the right people, forming ideas that benefit the group, uniforms, and things like that. Art thought I was crazy, when I talked like that. I asked him to trust me. He didn’t want to record Blues March. But it became one of his best-known recordings. He played it until he died. No matter who came in that group, they had to play Blues

ACB: Some of us can appreciate I Remember Clifford, a memorial and a tribute to one of your great friends Clifford Brown, correct? BG: Yes, that’s the reason that it was written. I wish I hadn’t written it because I’m sorry he was killed. I wouldn’t have written it if he had not been killed. But I was so in love with him as a person, he was a be. Music should never stay in one place. Nothing else does. Cars change, architecture changes, medicine changes, the way we eat our food changes, and our diets change. We change. I used to have hair. I don’t have hair, anymore. So, why shouldn’t music change, too? The youngsters come in with lots of ideas. It doesn’t mean that the other 35

March and Along Came Betty. When I became a member of the band, he wasn’t making a great deal of money. I said, “Art, with all that talent you have, you should be a millionaire.”

So, I went to work. He opposed a lot of things, but he listened, and he saw that things began to change. He made more money. He recorded the

right things. He stopped playing a drum solo at the end of a tune like every other drummer on the scene. That’s why we did Blues March, which he didn’t want to do. He played his feature at the beginning, like he did with Thelonious Monk on Straight No Chaser. He played his drums right at the beginning. You would not believe it. I said, “Art, you don’t want to play the drums at the end, when everybody’s tired and blown out. No, you’re the leader. You’re up front.”

Art had to understand things like that and we were able to move ahead. I stayed year and I was effective. He hadn’t been to Europe. I called the booking agency and asked why had Art Blakely never been to Europe? He said he never asked. I said okay, I’m asking. Let’s go. It was time to do things. You can’t stay in one spot. You have to stretch up and hope that your reach doesn’t exceed your grasp. That’s what it’s about, moving ahead, not staying in the same place. When you move ahead you become better than you were yesterday. That’s what we do, intuitively. We want to improve as we play. We don’t want to stay in one spot.

ACB: Before your dates with Blakey, you formed a band with Curtis Fuller and the Farmer Brothers? BG: Yeah, the Jazztet. ACB: The Jazztet. Killer Joe was the song here in Chicago. Everyone loved Killer Joe. That was you narrating? BG: Yeah, that was me. ACB: That was wonderful. Listen, we won’t keep you long. We thank you very much for being my guest and, you know, you’re a tremendous person, a wonderful man. BG: Oh, thank you. That’s encouraging. ACB: You’ve done so much for this great music. BG: That’s encouraging. I can use that. ACB: Oh, yes, you’ve done so much for this wonderful music and there’s a lot more that you’re going to give. BG: I hope so. ACB: Thank you, very much, sir. I appreciate your time. BG: Thanks for having me. I appreciate that. Thank you so much. ACB: Sure ‘nough. Take care. Have a good one and swing tonight!