New Benny Golson Autobiography

[fasstrack]

Has anyone read this yet? What did you think?

I ordered it yesterday.

(BTW: Golson's co-author is one Jim Merod)...

[JSngry]

2 hours ago, fasstrack said:

(BTW: Golson's co-author is one Jim Merod)...

Which spelled backwards gets us Do Re Mmi...but that leaves us J, and what will bring us back to J? Or to Sorrento, for that matter?

[Justin V]

I'll have to check this out.  Golson is a natural storyteller who has led an interesting life, so this has to be a must-read.

[fasstrack]

 I finished it. 

For the first 100 pages or so I didn't think I was going to get through the authors' dense forest of five dollar words and, frankly, often corny and over-stuffed prose. But I hung in, and I'm glad I did. The book is often quite thought-provoking---especially when Mr. Golson reflects on playing and writing. The man is quite the thinker, and gave me pause to think about my own work. It was worth reading for that alone.

I confess I was a bit disappointed in the portraiture of great musicians (as people) that Mr. Golson has known in his many years. A bit one-dimensional, possibly because Benny Golson is such a gentle spirit (I have spoken with him, he is a complete sweetheart) that he doesn't find it in himself to write about anything but the good in people. It is an admirable quality for sure, but I would have liked to have seen these complex artistic personalities fleshed out more fully. It would have made for more interesting reading. 

Finally, like Captain Renault in Casablanca, I was shocked to learn that Mr. Golson is a Jehovah's Witness. The less said about that the better, but a person (in the USA, anyway) has the right to believe what he or she wishes. To his credit, he never proselytizes, and saves dropping this on us until a very brief last chapter.

So I recommend it with reservations... 

Edited August 8, 2016 by fasstrack