[Dixielandjazz] saxophone- jazz- movies

[Norman Vickers]

I hope I don't get too much flack for posting this article from the NY times
on Benny Golson.  However, it's current-about a saxophone player, his career
and current movie break at age 75. I hope some of you will find it of
interest. Please don't kill the messenger.

Norman Vickers
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A Saxophone Hero's Big Break

June 13, 2004
By BEN RATLIFF

BENNY GOLSON became one of the better young saxophone
players in jazz during the late 1950's, particularly as a
member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, the long-running
band that crystallized the sound of hard-bop. That was no
small accomplishment: it was also the blossoming time of
John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins and Wayne Shorter. Later in
life, Mr. Golson became better known as a composer of
small-band jazz standards, including "I Remember Clifford,"
"Stablemates," "Killer Joe" and "Whisper Not." But next
week, Mr. Golson, 75, will become exponentially more
recognizable, playing himself in a new film by Steven
Spielberg, "The Terminal," which stars Tom Hanks.

In it, Mr. Hanks plays Viktor Navorski, a citizen of a
fictional Eastern European country who is stranded at
Kennedy Airport because of a coup at home. (Readers who
don't want to know how the movie ends should stop reading
here). Eventually the reason for his journey is made clear:
he wants to collect the autographs of all the jazz
musicians in "Great Day in Harlem," the famous photograph
Art Kane took for Esquire magazine in 1958. It showed
dozens of prominent players, including Mr. Golson at age
29, assembled in front of a Harlem brownstone.

Recently, when all he had seen of the film was the sequence
in which he appears, Mr. Golson talked with Ben Ratliff.

BEN RATLIFF There are several other notable jazz musicians
from that photograph who are still alive: Sonny Rollins,
Hank Jones, Marian McPartland, Horace Silver. Why did
Spielberg choose you?

GOLSON Well, I found out later. When it was all done, I
sent Spielberg a special manuscript, a serigraph, of my
song "I Remember Clifford." And I got a reply: "Thank you
so much for the serigraph. `I Remember Clifford' has always
been my favorite of your body of works." I'm not as famous
as Sonny Rollins. But apparently he knows and likes my
music.

RATLIFF Who contacted you?

GOLSON I live in both New York and L.A., and Spielberg
himself called my office in L.A. I asked him who would I be
playing, and he said, "Yourself." I went up to Montreal to
shoot it. Spielberg made a nightclub set for me. He had
asked me, "What kind of piano would you like?" I said,
"Steinway," and it was there.

RATLIFF The film contains a mixed message about jazz. In
one sense, it's saying that jazz has settled deeply enough
into international culture that you're loved and
appreciated from thousands of miles away. But when it shows
you performing in New York, you're persevering with dignity
at a Ramada Inn lounge, sort of hidden away. The truth is,
a list of your accomplishments makes it clear that you're
more important than this. You've possibly written more
standards than any other living jazz composer. Jazz at
Lincoln Center put on a big retrospective of your work
three years ago. What do you think about your portrayal in
the film?

GOLSON I'll surprise you: I don't think of it. All I do is
pursue the music. Nothing else concerns me. My backward
glances are few. My sights are always on what's coming
tomorrow. I'm a dreamer, and hopefully my dreams are
imperial ones. I can't even be influenced by critics.
Sometimes we're not always sure where we're going. That,
too, is part of the adventure, exploring things.

RATLIFF So it doesn't bother you that lots of people will
confuse the version of you in the film with the real-life
you.

GOLSON I guess I wouldn't want anybody to think I was a
poseur. But I'm not even overly concerned about that. I
can't say that the way I'm portrayed is of no consequence,
but it's of lesser consequence than the music itself.

RATLIFF Have you ever played in a Ramada Inn?

GOLSON
Never. Which is not to say that I never will. It just
hasn't happened. All of this, with the movie, is just part
of the adventure. Some of it's like a mouthful of cotton
candy - there's not much there. But I'll take it, because
the music is my life. I'd much rather do this than drive a
truck, which is what I did before I moved to New York.

RATLIFF Have you had many experiences with strangers who
come a long distance to get your autograph?

GOLSON Yes. Especially in Japan. Over there they can tell
you who played third alto with Benny Goodman in 1939.

RATLIFF People have this increasing fascination with the
"Great Day in Harlem" picture.

GOLSON And we had no idea at the time that it would be so
important. I was a new boy in town then. Nat Hentoff called
me and asked me to be there, and when I arrived, there were
only four people I knew: Art Farmer, Johnny Griffin, Sonny
Rollins and Dizzy Gillespie, because I was playing with
Dizzy's band. I hadn't yet met Art Blakey, who stands in
front of me, even though I was soon going to play in his
band.

RATLIFF Have you been able to parlay this movie into
anything for your own career?

GOLSON Yes. My attorney said, "Let's approach some record
companies and see if we can get a deal." I had no deal at
the time - it had been about two years. Concord Records
said yes, and they gave me a tremendous budget. Since the
film is called "The Terminal," I decided to get a little
more specific: my album for Concord is called "Terminal 1."
I recorded a piece on it, with that title, about the movie.
The piece sort of describes what's happening in the
terminal; the drums imitate the sounds of people coming and
going.

RATLIFF You've seen so much of jazz firsthand. Have you
written your autobiography?

GOLSON I finished my memoirs about a year ago. I don't know
who's going to buy it - it's over 1,000 pages. I've got
inside stuff on everyone you can think of. On John
Coltrane, Miles, Dizzy Gillespie. But I said, "Wait a
minute, Joe. I've got to put the Spielberg thing in
there."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/13/movies/13RATL.html?ex=1088071549&ei=1&en=5
f367de69797e01c


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