(SOUNDBITE OF ART BLAKEY AND THE JAZZ MESSENGERS' "BLUES MARCH")
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
You got to start somewhere. For the great jazz saxophonists Benny Golson and John Coltrane, it was at Golson's house in Philadelphia in the late '40s.
(SOUNBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
BENNY GOLSON: John and I were like blood brothers. I mean, I was 16 when I met him. He was 18.
SUMMERS: As Golson told NPR's Scott Simon in 2009, as teenagers, they'd listen to records together and then try to figure out how to play that music.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
GOLSON: And he played worse than I did, for me. We really annoyed the neighbors. We were on the front room, and it was the summertime.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
They got better - John Coltrane, of course, one of the greatest of all time. Benny Golson was no slouch either, but he left his greatest mark as a composer of songs that became jazz standards.
(SOUNDBITE OF BENNY GOLSON'S "ALONG CAME BETTY")
SUMMERS: There was "Along Came Betty" and "Blues March" and "Stablemates," "Whisper Not," "Killer Joe."
(SOUNDBITE OF BENNY GOLSON'S "KILLER JOE")
SUMMERS: This version of "Killer Joe" was from his own group, The Jazztet, which he co-led with the trumpet player Art Farmer.
CHANG: Golson also pursued film scoring. You can hear his work on episodes of "M*A*S*H" and "Mission: Impossible," among other shows, but he became disillusioned with that eventually and started itching to play again.
(SOUNDBITE OF BENNY GOLSON'S "WHISPER NOT")
SUMMERS: So, he did. He reformed The Jazztet and toured the world. He received the federal government's NEA Jazz Masters Award and even made a cameo in a Steven Spielberg movie called "The Terminal," starring Tom Hanks.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE TERMINAL")
TOM HANKS: (As Viktor Navorski) Benny Golson, I am Viktor Navorski. I am from Krakozhia. My father, Dimitar Asenov Navorski, was a great, great fan of your music.
GOLSON: (As self) Oh, a jazz fan. Fantastic.
CHANG: A few years after that came out, Benny Golson told NPR this is what he hoped people would take away from his music.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
GOLSON: I hope they have privy to look into the deepest grotto of my heart's core, to understand what I'm about musically. And maybe they'll understand that what they hear is a reflection of my inner parts, my thinking, my curiosity, my imagination and creative ability.
(SOUNDBITE OF BENNY GOLSON'S "I REMEMBER CLIFFORD")
CHANG: After the trumpet player Clifford Brown died in a car crash at age 25, Benny Golson wrote one of his most famous tunes, "I'll Remember Clifford" (ph).
Now, Benny Golson has died at his home in New York. His family didn't give a cause. He did enjoy a long career. He was 95 years old.
(SOUNDBITE OF BENNY GOLSON'S "I REMEMBER CLIFFORD") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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