Benny Golson, JJ Lopez, Kory Cook (left to right).
If you happen to be walking through KRTU’s studio you might see a large black-and-white photograph hanging on the wall. This photo, taken by Art Kane, captures a historic gathering of 57 jazz musicians on the streets of Harlem on a hot summer day in 1958. A bit of research will tell you who was there and how the event was organized. However, it takes someone from the photo itself to gain insight into what that day was actually like -- and that’s exactly what KRTU’s JJ Lopez, Kory Cook and I experienced when Benny Golson visited the station.
The afternoon of October 7th, 2016, the day of KRTU’s 40th Anniversary Concert, JJ asked me to set up the microphone for Benny Golson and then in walked the man himself. Following an introduction by Kory, the bandleader sat at the computer and tried to record a spot using the provided script, but he ultimately threw it out and we recorded an improvised version that still plays on the air. As he was leaving, Golson stopped in front of the Harlem 1958 photo and just stared at it for a moment, as if he was taken back to that very day. Then, unprompted, he took us there with him.
“I remember that day. I got there and I wondered ‘Why am I here?’ These are all the established guys. Nobody knew who the heck I was,” Golson said. “You got to meet a lot of people that day, huh?” asked JJ. “Oh, I got to know them,” Golson replied. A conversation developed and, before long, this famous saxophonist was telling us the story of how Esquire magazine wanted to do a special feature on jazz and how he received a phone call to show up that morning for the photo. “Look, there’s Horace Silver with his greased-back hair,” Golson said with smile. “Did you know he used to be a tenor player?” And that’s how things went for the next few minutes, pointing out people like Wilbur Ware and Roy Eldridge, chuckling at Dizzy Gillespie’s stuck-out tongue, and naming various members of Count Basie’s band. Golson said he met most of them for the first time that day and for some, like Sonny Rollins, the only other surviving musician from the photo, that was the beginning of a lifelong friendship.
As Golson talked about his jam sessions with Clifford Brown as a teen and his apprenticeship under Coleman Hawkins years later, it was clear that this photo was just as important to him as it was to our jazz-loving community that has enjoyed the music of these artists in the decades since the photo was taken. As the year comes to a close, we at KRTU wanted to share with you our story of the day Benny Golson reminisced about that day in Harlem just before taking the stage to celebrate 40 years of broadcasting excellence by listener-supported KRTU 91.7 FM.
A Great Day In Harlem, 1958
“I think it’s funny that you’re the first person listed at the top row,” JJ said, wrapping up the exchange. “Can you believe it?” exclaimed Benny, “The new boy in town. Who would’ve thought?”