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OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — John Coltrane is a household name for most people who know anything about music. However, Coltrane’s teenage friend and fellow famous jazz musician, Benny Golson, may be less familiar.
The 90-year-old jazz saxophonist and composer spoke with metro students at Johnson County Community College for an hour and a half on Thursday, Oct. 10 about his music and life as a jazz musician in the mid-to-late 1900s.
“I would write a song every time someone sneezed,” Golson said.
The composer was famous for many charts, including “Killer Joe” and “Stablemates.” He said his music really took off when Miles Davis recorded them at the suggestion of John Coltrane.
“I was 16 and he was 18 at the time,” Golson said, remembering when he was just starting off on saxophone.
He said he and Coltrane would practice at his house by listening to records and plunking out accompaniment on an old piano. The two became discouraged after they were replaced in a local jazz band. However, Golson’s mom told them they would get so good, bands like that wouldn’t be able to afford them. She was right.

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