Press Releases

Mellon Jazz 2007 Living Legacy Award
Honors Saxophonist and Jazz Educator Benny Golson

Award to be Presented Friday, October 12, 2007
at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Baltimore, MD - Jazz saxophonist Benny Golson will be honored with the Mellon Jazz 2007 Living Legacy Award in a special ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, October 12, 2007.  The Mellon Jazz 2007 Living Legacy Award is a program of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation and is sponsored by The Bank of New York Mellon. The Award celebration will include the Award ceremony, a dessert reception, and a performance by Mellon Jazz 2006 Living Legacy Awardee Oliver Lake in the Kennedy Center Jazz Club. Additional support is provided by Amtrak, the official rail carrier of the Mellon Jazz 2007 Living Legacy Award.

"From jazz standards to film and television soundtracks, Benny Golson has contributed some of the most memorable standards to the jazz repertoire over the course of his career. Today, Golson continues to distinguish himself among the legends in this field as both a successful, practicing artist and a passionate educator," said David Kutch, chairman, The Bank of New York Mellon Mid-Atlantic Region. "Benny is a humble musical giant and an extraordinary ambassador for the Mellon Jazz Living Legacy Award."

Multitalented and internationally famous jazz legend Benny Golson was born in Philadelphia on January 25, 1929. Raised with an impeccable musical pedigree, Mr. Golson has played in the bands of jazz greats Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Earl Bostic and Art Blakey.

Mr. Golson is the only living jazz artist to have written eight standards for jazz repertoire. They are: Killer Joe, I Remember Clifford, Along Came Betty, Stablemates, Whisper Not, Blues March, Five Spot After Dark and Are you Real? These standards have found their way into countless recordings internationally over the years and are still being recorded. He also has recorded more than 30 albums in the United States and Europe under his own name and innumerable ones with other major artists. A prodigious writer, Mr. Golson has written over 300 compositions.

For more than 50 years, Mr. Golson has enjoyed an illustrious, musical career in which he has not only made scores of recordings, but has also composed and arranged music for: Count Basie, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Sammy Davis Jr., Mama Cass Elliott, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Shirley Horn, David Jones and the Monkees, Quincy Jones, Peggy Lee, Carmen McRae, Anita O'Day, Itzhak Perlman, Oscar Peterson, Lou Rawls, Mickey Rooney, Diana Ross, The Animals (Eric Burden), Mel Torme, George Shearing and Dusty Springfield.

In addition, he has scored numerous TV series including: M*A*S*H, Mannix, Mission Impossible, Mod Squad, Room 222, Run for Your Life, The Partridge Family and The Bill Cosby Show.

Mr. Golson has not only blazed a trail in the world of jazz, but is also passionate about teaching jazz to young and old alike. He has lectured at The Lincoln Center through a special series created by Wynton Marsalis and to doctoral candidates at New York University, as well as the faculty at National University at San Diego.

Honored with doctorates from William Paterson College in Wayne, NJ and Berklee School of Music in Boston, Mr. Golson has conducted workshops and clinics at a multitude of colleges and universities across the United States.

Some of Mr. Golson’s commissions include his first symphony, "Two Faces," which premiered in New York at The Lincoln Center and was commissioned by Reader's Digest; "A Three Piano Composition" for the Ravinia Festival of Chicago; and a piece celebrating the 100th Anniversary of The Juilliard School of Music.

Mr. Golson's musical odyssey has taken him around the world. In 1987, The U.S. Department of State sent him on a cultural tour of Southeast Asia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma and Singapore. Later, Philip Morris International sent him on an assignment to Bangkok, Thailand to write music for the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra. A live performer who consistently knocks audiences off their feet, Mr. Golson has given hundreds of performances in the United States, Europe, South America, Far East and Japan.

Mr. Golson is a Grammy Nominee for Best Instrumental for his performance of "Body and Soul" from his CD "Tenor Legacy.”  In 1996, he received an American Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional recognition includes a BMI Music Award for his Cosby Show score and a Certificate of Commendation from the City of Los Angeles.

Mr. Golson is currently working on a major college textbook and his autobiography.

Previous Living Legacy Award winners include Oliver Lake, Rufus Reid, Randy Weston, Keter Betts, Jimmy Heath, Joe Kennedy Jr., Shirley Scott, Reggie Workman, Dr. Donald Byrd, Larry Ridley, Barry Harris, Robert “Boysie” Lowery and Clark Terry.  A Millennium Award was conferred on Dr. Billy Taylor in 2000.
 
Please visit our sponsors at www.bnymellon.com and www.amtrak.com.

This program is made possible through a collaboration with the Kennedy Center Education Department.

About The Bank of New York Mellon
The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation is a global financial services company focused on helping clients manage and move their financial assets, operating in 37 countries and serving more than 100 markets.  The company is a leading provider of financial services for institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals, providing superior asset management and wealth management, asset servicing, issuer services and treasury services through a worldwide client-focused team.  It has more than $20 trillion in assets under custody and administration and more than $1 trillion in assets under management.  Additional information is available at www.bnymellon.com.

About Amtrak
Amtrak provides intercity passenger rail service to more than 500 destinations in 46 states on a 21,000-mile route system.  For schedules, fares and information, passengers may call 800-USA-RAIL or visit www.Amtrak.com.

Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation supports the richness and diversity of the region's arts resources and promotes wider access to the art and artists of the region, nation and world. The region includes nine states and jurisdictions that are closely related by geography or culture: District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, and West Virginia.