‘Along Came Betty’ composer, saxophonist Benny Golson dies

Jazz saxophonist and composer Benny Golson has died.

He was 95.

The Associated Press reported that Golson died at his Manhattan home after a short illness. His agent did not disclose what the illness was.

Golson was born and raised in Philadelphia. He started learning the piano when he was only 9 but switched to the saxophone when he was 14. He started performing with fellow musicians, such as his childhood friend John Coltrane when Golson was still in high school.

While attending Howard University he began arranging music. He also played with several famous musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers before starting The Jazztet in 1959 with Art Farmer.

In addition to writing “Killer Joe” and “Along Came Betty,” Golson wrote the tribute “I Remember Clifford” to remember his friend and trumpet player Clifford Brown, who was killed in a car accident in 1956, The Washington Post reported. It took Golson two weeks to write, what the newspaper described as, “the poignant, slow-moving melody, which evokes both sadness and the buoyant tone of Brown’s trumpet.”

The song was recorded by both Donald Byrd and Gillespie and eventually had lyrics written by Jon Hendricks. The song has been recorded by more than 300 performers, the Post reported.

The band split in 1962 and Golson found fame in making music for movies and television shows. Some of his compositions were in “Mannix,” “M-A-S-H” and “Mission: Impossible.” He also wrote music for Peggy Lee, Lou Rawls and Dusty Springfield.

He took a break from playing music while he wrote for more than a decade, but picked up the sax once again in the 1970s, reforming Jazztet with Farmer in 1982.

Golson was honored as a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, the highest honor for a jazz musician in 1996, the Post reported.

Golson also portrayed himself in the Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg movie “The Terminal” in which Hanks’ character has to get Golson’s autograph to complete his father’s collection of autographs from jazz artists who were in the photo “A Great Day in Harlem.” Sonny Rollins is the last person alive from the group photo, the AP reported.

Golson stopped performing live during the COVID-19 pandemic but still worked on projects including the soon-to-be-released documentary “Benny Golson: Looking Beyond the Horizon.”

Golson leaves behind his wife, daughter and several grandchildren.

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