November 30. 2016

Photo from Benny Golson’s Official Website
Generally his composing skill has been drawing more attention than his saxophone performance.
However I like his saxophone sound.
Today I will post about his tenor saxophone.
He began to play a piano at age 9 with his mother’s suggestion and had a dream of becoming a concert pianist.
When he was at age 14, he discovered the saxophone and began to blow tenor saxophone since the age of 14.
As a matter of course he heard a famous tenor saxsophone players “Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster and others.

Photo above of Don Byas (photo from Jazz Profiles)
Especially his idol was Don Byas.
They were playing saxophones with a metal circle attaching the bell to the body of the saxophone.
He noticed that they all had Selmer saxophone.
He quickly went to a local music store to try out one of these saxophone.
Then he became the player of only Selmer saxophones including his soprano since 1951.
He says about Selmer saxophone: “Selmer makes the best instruments in the world.
I have joyfully and successfully played their saxophones since 1951”.
Here is “Benny Golson Interview on Selmer Saxophones”.
Here is “Benny Golson & the Henri Selmer reeds”
Here is Benny Golson plays “Killer Joe”.