Benny Golson, the internationally famous jazz legend and tenor saxophonist, will present a special concert with the Jazz Heritage Orchestra on Saturday, November 8 at 7 p.m. in Waetjen Auditorium on the Cleveland State University campus.

Tickets are $25, or $15 for students with ID. For tickets, call the Wolstein Center at 216.687.9292 or Ticketmaster at 216.241.5555. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com. Waetjen Auditorium is located in the Music and Communication Building at 2001 Euclid Ave.

Golson’s rehearsal with the Jazz Heritage Orchestra is also open to CSU students, high school students and their teachers on Thursday, November 6 from 7-10 p.m. in Waetjen Auditorium.

The Jazz Heritage Orchestra is a professional, 17-piece, not-for-profit performance/education group in residence in Cleveland State’s Black Studies Program. The orchestra is composed of outstanding jazz performers who are also highly competent music educators.

Golson is a musical giant in the world of jazz. A composer, arranger, lyricist and producer of world note, he was born in Philadelphia in 1929. He played in the bands of the world-famous Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Earl Bostic and Art Blakey.

His innovations and performing and recording career literally redefined the term “jazz.” Golson is the only living jazz artist to have written eight standards for jazz repertoire. These jazz standards have found their way into countless recordings internationally over the years and are still being recorded.

He has recorded more than 30 albums in the U.S. and Europe under his own name and innumerable ones with other major artists. A prodigious writer, Golson has written well over 300 compositions. A live performer who consistently knocks audiences off their feet, he has given hundreds of performances in the U.S., Europe, South America and Japan.

During Golson’s illustrious career, he 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, Itzhak Perlman, Lou Rawls, Mickey Rooney, Diana Ross, The Animals (Eric Burden), Mel Torme, Dusty Springfield and others.

His prolific writing includes scores for numerous hit TV series and films, including M*A*S*H, Mission Impossible, Mod Squad, The Academy Awards, TV specials for ABC, CBS and NBC, and specials for BBC in London and Denmark.

He also wrote the music for many national radio and television spots, including Canada Dry, Carnation, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Gillette, McDonald's, Mattel Toys, Nissan, Pepsi Cola and Texaco.

Golson has not only blazed a trail in the world of jazz; he is passionate about teaching jazz to young and old alike. He lectured at the Lincoln Center through a special series by Wynton Marsalis and was honored with doctorates from William Paterson College and Berklee School of Music. He is working on a major college textbook and his autobiography.

Golson’s appearance is sponsored by Cleveland State’s Black Studies Program and College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, WCPN 90.3 Ideastream, Wyndham Hotel, Cleveland Music Settlement House and Rockefeller Gardens Greenhouse.

For more information, please call Dr. Michael Williams, director of CSU’s Black Studies Program, at 216.523.7211.

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Benny Golson Schedule
November 5-8, 2008

Wednesday, November 5:
7-10 p.m. Jazz Heritage Rehearsal: Waetjen Auditorium. Benny Golson arrival

• Open to CSU Students and High School Students and Teachers

Friday, November 7: Open Rehearsal: Jazz Heritage Orchestra and Benny Golson

• Master Class Open to CSU Students

Saturday, November 8

• Antonio Ciacca-Master Class-CSU: Time TBD
• Sound Check: Jazz Heritage: 5:30 p.m.
• Concert Performance: 7-9 p.m.: Doors Open at 6:30 p.m.

MC: Bobby Jackson, WCPN

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