Marc Myers – JazzWax: What drew you to the tenor sax?
Benny Golson: It wasn’t records. I went to see Lionel Hampton inEarlefacade 1945 at the Earle Theater [pictured] at 11th and Market St. in Philadelphia. It was the first time I had seen a live band. I had started playing piano at age 9 and fancied I’d become a concert pianist one day. But during the Hampton concert, the band played an intro and Arnett Cobb [pictured] stepped out from the reed section to the front of the stage with his Maintenor sax. A microphone came up out of the floor, and Arnett started playing Flying Home. At that moment, the piano for me started to lose its appeal. [laughs] I told Arnett years later in Nice, France, that he was the reason I was playing the tenor sax. Tears welled up in his eyes.
Benny Golson (1929-2024) In Memoriam
Cita tomada de la entrevista de Marc Myers en el imprescindible blog JazzWax a Benny Golson en 2008. https://www.jazzwax.com/2008/09/interview-benny.html.
Fotografía tomada por Sergio Cabanillas en la actuación del Benny Golson Quartet en el Festival de Jazz de Peñíscola, el 26 de julio de 2013. https://tomajazz.com/web/benny-golson-quartet-peniscola-2013/
Texto: © Marc Myers, JazzWax, 2008
Fotografía: © Sergio Cabanillas, 2013
