The Music of Benny Golson

Saturday, May 11, 2024

*PLEASE NOTE: All 7PM and 9PM shows at Smoke are Dinner Shows $25 | $40 | $50 | $55 Billy Pierce – tenor saxophone Eddie Henderson – trumpet (except Fri) Marcus Printup – trumpet (Fri only) Steve Davis – trombone Mike LeDonne – piano Buster Williams – bass Carl Allen – drums “Among jazz’s greatest living composers.” – The Washington Post The music of jazz legend Benny Golson is celebrated and performed by the New Jazztet featuring trumpeter Eddie Henderson, trombonist Steve Davis, pianist Mike LeDonne, bassist Buster Williams, and drummer Carl Allen with special guest Billy Pierce on tenor saxophone. This group recorded together under Golson’s leadership in 2008, which resulted in the acclaimed album, New Time, New ’Tet. Golson is one of the most important contributors to jazz history as a player and the jazz canon as composer writing such enduring classics as “Killer Joe,” “I Remember Clifford,” “Along Came Betty,” “Stablemates,” “Whisper Not,” “Blues March,” “Five Spot After Dark,” and “Are you Real?” among quite a few others. He also was a major influence on the tenor saxophone playing in the bands of Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Earl Bostic, and Art Blakey. The full impact of his career on American culture is hard to summarize but Downbeat called him “a defining voice of modern jazz.” Trumpeter Marcus Printup will perform in place of Henderson on Friday night.