Visiting Artists in Jazz, Spring, 2008
JAZZ COMPOSER/SAXOPHONIST BENNY GOLSON IN RESIDENCE AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY
For the 31st year the Office for the Arts collaborated with the Harvard Jazz Bands to honor distinguished artists in jazz. In the spring semester composer/saxophonist Benny Golson was celebrated with “Along Came Benny” (an artist residency named after his famed composition “Along Came Betty”). 
Benny Golson first visited Harvard in January, when he rehearsed with undergraduates in the Monday and Sunday Jazz Bands, and visited with students in the Department of Music to advise them on the creation ofnew compositions.
In April, Golson returned to Harvard. In addition to being feted by jazz journalists, and faculty, staff, and students from Harvard, Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory, and other area schools and universities, he met with high school students at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, and journalist Fellows at the Nieman Foundation. He met again with students in the Music Department to comment on their final compositions. On Thursday, April 17 he discussed his career at a Learning From Performers event at the New College Theatre. Moderated by Steve Schwartz, host of WGBH-FM's "Live From Studio Four, this event was free and open to the public.
Golson was joined by guest pianist Mulgrew Miller and the Harvard Jazz Bands for a special matinee concert on Saturday, April 19, at 4 pm in Sanders Theatre.
For more than fifty years, Benny Golson has made scores of recordings and composed and arranged for such artists as Count Basie, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dizzy Gillespie. A prolific and renowned composer, he has written such widely-known standards for the jazz repertoire as “Killer Joe” (popularized in a hit recording by Quincy Jones), “I Remember Clifford,” (set to choreography in 1995 by Twyla Tharp and performed by her company), “Stablemates,” “Whisper Not,” “Blues March,” “Five Spot After Dark,” and “Are you Real?” “During the transitional period of the late 1950s and early1960s,” says Director of Bands Tom Everett, “Benny produced an oeuvre of jazz compositions that masterfully bridged the lyrical quality and structure of the traditional popular American song, with the harmonic content that challenged, and was revered by, the improvising musician. No other individual produced a body of work during that time that has become such a significant part of the jazz repertoire.”
Golson’s prolific writing career also includes scores for hit TV series and films, including “M*A*S*H,” the theme of Bill Cosby’s last show, “Mannix,” “Mission Impossible,” “Mod Squad,” “Room 222,” The Academy Awards, and specials for ABC, CBS and NBC networks, as well as the BBC. He has also written national radio and television spots for major American advertising agencies.
Born in Philadelphia in 1929, Golson played in the bands of Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, and Earl Bostic. His also served as Music Director with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and co-led Jazztet with flugel hornist Art Farmer; both ensembles were milestones of the late Hard Bop period. As a performer, “Benny’s tenor playing is often overlooked,” says Tom Everett, “whether because it is overshadowed by his acclaimed writing talent or his admiration for the earlier tenor giant Ben Webster (versus the more often emulated John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins). Benny forged his own warm mellow identifiable sound. He has maintained a remarkably high and diverse standard of creativity.”
Golson’s honors are many. He was a Guggenheim Fellow in 1995 and received the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Award in 1996. He has received honorary doctorates Berklee College of Music and William Patterson College. In 1999 he was nominated for a Grammy Award for his performance of “Body and Soul” on his CD “Tenor Legacy”.
Mulgrew Miller has been cited by the venerable Hank Jones (2005 Harvard Jazz Artist) as one of his favorite pianists. “Miller is one of the most versatile pianists on the scene today, says Everett. “He was Benny’s personal choice to accompany him on this tribute program.” With over 400 recordings as a leader and sideman, Miller is, wrote Bob Blumenthal “perhaps the leading pianist of his generation.”
Born and raised in Mississippi, Miller arrived in New York in 1977 with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He is a member of the Contemporary Piano Ensemble—four pianists performing on four grand pianos with a rhythm section—and tours with his own trio, and his quintet “Wingspan.” His first live recording “Live at Yoshi’s” was issued in 2004.
---------------------------------------
Jazz Programs at Harvard University were initiated in 1971 by Director of Bands Tom Everett and have developed with the Office for the Arts at Harvard since 1976. Artists such as Benny Carter, Illinois Jacquet, John Lewis, Max Roach, J.J. Johnson, Gerry Mulligan, Bill Evans, Randy Weston, Lester Bowie, Andrew Hill, Carla Bley, and Steve Lacy have participated. The purpose is to honor artists who have made a significant contribution to jazz and encourage their creativity in a new environment, share their mastery with students, and bring their music to the public.
The Office for the Arts at Harvard (OFA), established in 1973, supports student engagement in the arts and serves the University in its commitment to the arts. Through its programs and services, the OFA fosters student art making, connects students to accomplished artists, integrates the arts into university life, and partners with local, national and international constituencies. For more information, call
