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SAXOPHONIST BENNY GOLSON JOINS WILLIAM PATERSON JAZZ ENSEMBLE FOR PERFORMANCE --Golson returns to campus where he worked as an artist-in-residence from 1991 to 1992 Legendary saxophonist and composer Benny
Golson will perform with the William Paterson Jazz Ensemble under
the direction of David Demsey as the Fall 2000 Jazz Room Series
continues at William Paterson University in Wayne on Sunday,
October 29. Benny Golson will be the guest for "Sittin' In," an informal discussion with the artists presented before the concert. The talk begins at 3 p.m. in room 101 of Shea Center. Admission is free to all Jazz Room ticketholders. Golson is well acquainted with William Paterson University, where he composed, performed, lectured and presented workshops as an artist-in-residence in the Jazz Studies Program from 1991 to 1992. Born in Philadelphia in 1929, Benny Golson
studied piano, organ, tenor saxophone and clarinet as a child
and later attended Howard University. He first toured with the
R&B band of singer Bull Moose Jackson in 1952, where he met
Tadd Dameron, who greatly influenced Golson's compositional style.
Two years later he played in a band led by Dameron, and was
soon performing with Lionel Hampton, Johnny Hodges, Earl Bostic,
and Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Golson composed music for film and television, including popular shows like "M*A*S*H," "Mission Impossible," "Room 222," and "Mannix." He also arranged for such individuals as Ella Fitzgerald, Lou Rawls, Diana Ross, and Mel Torme. He returned to playing in the late 1970s, making records and touring, including visits to Europe in 1982 with the reunited Jazztet and a solo tour in 1985. In 1989, Golson began a two-year residency at William Paterson that culminated in the Lincoln Center premiere of a concerto for bass performed by Rufus Reid. In 1994, he wrote a piece for Itzhak Perlman that also premiered at Lincoln Center in New York. He is the recipient of an honorary doctorate from William Paterson and a Guggenheim fellowship, and was given, along with J.J. Johnson and Tommy Flanagan, a Jazz Masters Award by the National Endowment for the Arts. In recent years, Golson has been a member and musical director of an all-star saxophone ensemble, Roots, which has toured extensively in Europe and has recorded four albums. Golson's most recent recordings include "Up Jumped Benny," "That's Funky," and "Tenor Legacy." Launched in the spring of 1978, William Paterson's Jazz Room Series has earned a reputation for presenting concerts by eminent musicians in the jazz world. The series has been awarded numerous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and Citations of Excellence from the Council for its cultural contribution to the state. This program was made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. For additional information, please call William Paterson's Shea Center Box Office at 973-720-2371. William Paterson University, one of the nine state colleges and universities in New Jersey, offers 30 undergraduate and 18 graduate programs through five colleges: Arts and Communication, Business, Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Science and Health. Located on 370 hilltop acres in Wayne, the university enrolls approximately 10,000 students and provides housing for nearly 2,300 students. The institution's 352 full-time faculty are highly distinguished and diverse scholars and teachers, many of whom are recipients of prestigious awards and grants from the Fulbright Program (24 scholars), the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the American Philosophical Society. ###
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