Jazz legend Benny Golson (95) passed away

Golson began playing the saxophone at the age of 14. During his seventy-year career, he has worked with jazz greats such as Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton and John Coltrane. He is considered a major contributor to the hard bop jazz subgenre.

Golson made a name for himself as a musician and was also active as a composer. With pieces such as I remember Clifford, Blues march in Killer Joe he composed several so-called jazz standards; pieces of music that have become part of the standard repertoire of jazz musicians.

Mission: Impossible

From the 1960s onwards, Golson focused for several years on composing music for films and TV series. He composed music for, among others, M*A*S*H, The partridge family in Mission: ImpossibleIn 2020, Golson received the Grammy Trustees Award for his contributions to music.

In 2004, Golson appeared as himself in the feature film The Terminal by Steven Spielberg. In the film, Tom Hanks travels to New York to get Golson’s autograph. He needs that autograph to complete his collection of autographs of musicians who appear in the famous photo A great day in Harlem are to be completed.