Benny Golson may not be a household name for newer collectors of 1950s and ’60s jazz, but his contributions appear on countless classic recordings from the era. His rare 1960 quintet release, Gone With Golson, is among the latest titles in Craft Recordings’ Original Jazz Classics (OJC) reissue series. The OJC series excels at making these hard-to-find recordings available again, often in carefully restored editions that rival—or sometimes surpass—the originals in sound quality, all at a reasonable price.
A quick recap from official press materials underscores why:
“Continuing OJC’s commitment to quality, the reissues are cut from the original stereo tapes (AAA) by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI, and presented in tip-on jackets faithfully reproducing the original artwork. All titles will also be available digitally in 192/24 hi-res audio, released alongside their physical editions…”
For those unfamiliar with Benny Golson, like many hard bop players, he came up through the ranks performing with leaders such as Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, and Art Blakey. He later co-led a noted quintet with trumpeter Art Farmer, a group that included future piano luminary McCoy Tyner, who would go on to be a key accompanist for John Coltrane. Golson’s playing can also be heard on landmark recordings like Charles Mingus’ 1960 Mingus Dynasty—the often-overlooked follow-up to his acclaimed 1959 LP Ah Um—and Art Blakey’s 1958 Blue Note classic Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, which features four Golson compositions alongside Bobby Timmons’ iconic “Moanin’.”
While Golson spent much of the ’60s and ’70s arranging music for TV and film, his albums remain often luscious spins. Originally recorded in 1959, Gone With Golson is a hard bop gem featuring four of his own compositions as well as pianist Ray Bryant’s “Staccato Swing” and the standard “Autumn Leaves.” While it is hard to pick one favorite track, I do like “Blues After Dark” a bunch, a tune which was also recorded by Dizzy Gillespie’s octet on the 1959 Verve Records LP The Greatest Trumpet Of Them All (a group which featured Golson and also included Bryant).
As far as “need” for this reissue, a quick look at collector’s marketplace Discogs reveals exactly one (count ’em, 1!) original 1960-era pressing available in the United States at the time of this writing, selling for $240. I consider myself lucky to have scored a “well-loved” (worn but still playable, clicks and pops included) original years ago, so this new reissue is a welcome upgrade to my collection.
Kevin Gray’s disc mastering stays faithful to Rudy Van Gelder’s original recording while offering a wider dynamic range and a less compressed presentation—cymbals, in particular, come through with greater clarity, and the music retains plenty of studio presence. The new RTI-pressed vinyl is, as expected, dead quiet and perfectly centered, letting the performances shine. They even reproduced the period-accurate purple New Jazz Records label quite closely (my original copy appears at the lower right in the image below).
This new OJC reissue of The Benny Golson Quintet: Gone With Golson is priced around $40, making it an accessible option for fans seeking a faithful reproduction of the original release without spending a fortune.
Where to buy: $41.99 at Amazon
Mark Smotroff is a deep music enthusiast / collector who has also worked in entertainment oriented marketing communications for decades supporting the likes of DTS, Sega and many others. He reviews vinyl for Analog Planet and has written for Audiophile Review, Sound+Vision, Mix, EQ, etc. You can learn more about him at LinkedIn.
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