Benny Golson, an NEA Jazz Master, Performed in Tulsa Friday Night

[Aired Thursday, March 8th.] While growing up in Philadelphia, Benny Golson (born 1929) --- our guest today on StudioTulsa --- jammed and woodshedded with the likes of John Coltrane, Red Garland, Jimmy Heath, Philly Joe Jones, and Red Rodney. Later, he played alongside the great be-bop composer/pianist/arranger Tadd Dameron --- a major influence, and a mentor of sorts --- before doing stints with such notable bandleaders as Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, and Tulsa's own Earl Bostic. Named an NEA Jazz Master in 1995, Golson is without question a living legend of American music. Indeed, the saxophonist is the composer of several bona-fide jazz standards, among them "I Remember Clifford," "Stablemates," "Killer Joe," "Whisper Not," and "Along Came Betty." Golson also co-led (with trumpeter Art Farmer) the highly regarded combo known as The Jazztet from 1959 to 1962, and thereafter enjoyed a very successful career in Hollywood, doing studio and orchestral work on various films and TV shows for more than a decade. The Benny Golson Quartet will perform tomorrow night (Friday the 9th) at 8pm at the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in downtown Tulsa. For more information, please see okjazz.org.