Local musicians to present music of Benny Golson – Times-Standard

“Homage to the Jazz Message: Compositions of Benny Golson” will be presented Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Arcata Playhouse, 1251 Ninth St., Arcata.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 to $30. To purchase tickets, go to

James Zeller and Ramsey Isaacs will present the compositions of Benny Golson, renowned tenor saxophonist, composer and Jazz Messenger well known for his contribution of four compositions to the album “Moanin’.”

Golson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Jan. 25, 1929. His first instrument was piano, and he was inspired by Brahms and Chopin. He began playing saxophone at age 14, and met and played with John Coltrane around this time. Another Philly childhood association was with the great saxophonist/composer Jimmy Heath.

Prior to his stint with Art Blakey, Golson played with bands lead by Tadd Dameron’s, Lionel Hampton Johnny Hodges, Earl Bostic and Dizzy Gillespie. Post Messengers he co-led the Jazztet with Art Farmer and Curtis Fuller. Golson’s music was deeply influenced by Tadd Dameron. His work is characterized by ear worm melodies that weave their way through unusual harmonic structures that are attractive and challenging to improvisers.

The program will feature Golson’s four compositions from “Moanin’,”as well as salient works such as “I Remember Clifford” (in memory of fellow Messenger Clifford Brown, this time with a vocal by Zeller), jazz standards “Stablemates,” “Whisper Not” and a few rarely played gems.

The band for this show will be James Zeller, trombone; Tree, tenor saxophone; Matthew Seno, piano; Danny Gaon, bass; and Ramsey Isaacs on drums in the role of Art Blakey himself.

The “Homage to the Jazz Message” series honors Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, a collective group that began in the 1950s and continued for over 35 years ending with Blakey’s passing in 1990. An incredible number of jazz luminaries were at one time “Jazz Messengers,” including Horace Silver and Kenny Dorham (honored in the first two Homage concerts) Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Cedar Walton and Curtis Fuller, just to name a few.

The series takes place once a month on the Arcata Playhouse, moving chronologically through Jazz Messengers history. Each show will feature the music of a composer or multiple composers from a particular period.

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