Benny Golson, Saxophonist and Jazz Composer, Dies at 95

The composer for TV shows including 'M*A*S*H' and 'Mission: Impossible' died on Saturday, Sept. 21

Benny Golson, a tenor saxophonist and composer, died on Saturday, Sept. 21, at his home in Manhattan. He was 95.

Jason Franklin, his agent of over 25 years, confirmed the death with the New York Times.

Golson was best known for creating two distinct careers for himself in the music industry, first as a highly accomplished jazz musician and later as a jazz composer for TV shows such as M*A*S*H, Mission: Impossible and The Partridge Family, as well as for films, including Where It’s At and Ed's Next Move.

Additionally, several of Golson’s compositions have been recognized as jazz standards, including “I Remember Clifford,” “Whisper Not,” “Blues March,” “Killer Joe” and “Stablemates.”

Related: Paying Tribute to the Celebrities Who Have Died in 2024

The musician was born to a musically inclined family on Jan. 25, 1929, in Philadelphia. At 9 years old, he started playing piano, but by 14, he switched to saxophone after witnessing Arnett Cobb perform with Lionel Hampton’s big band at the Earle Theater in Philadelphia.

In his adolescence, he performed with local musicians who would also become icons within jazz, such as Mr. Coltrane, the drummer Philly Joe Jones and the Heath Brothers. He then played jazz and in marching bands at Howard University. Upon graduation, he became a full-time musician who performed with Hampton Ensemble and Earl Bostic, Tadd Dameron and Dizzy Gillespie’s bands.

Eventually, he joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1958. That year, Art Kane photographed  57 jazz musicians at East 126th Street for Esquire magazine. (The photograph became the subject of the Oscar-nominated documentary A Great Day in Harlem. As well as Steven Spielberg’s 2004 movie, The Terminal, starring Tom Hanks searching for Golson — who appeared in the film.)

That same year, he married his wife, Bobbie Hurd, who has survived him. The couple welcomed one daughter, Brielle, who has survived him. He welcomed three sons, Odis, Reggie, and Robert, who predeceased him, with his first wife.

In 1959, he formed the six-member Jazztet with pianist McCoy Tyner and trombonists Grachan Moncur III and Curtis Fuller. The group disbanded in 1962.

By the mid-1960s, as jazz began to evolve, Golson joined his friend Quincy Jones in Los Angeles, where he began his second successful career by writing and arranging music for television and film.

“I wanted to do more than play the tenor sax,” he said, per NYT. “I wanted to write.”

In the following decade, he composed for several hit shows, including M*A*S*H, The Mod Squad, and many more. But then he decided to return to New York and eventually reinstated the Jazztet in 1982, co-leading the troupe.

“I wanted to establish myself as a player once more,” he said, per NYT. And Golson did that exactly, and the Jazztet went on to release another six albums, and performed international tours.

Related: Cat Glover, Prince's Dancer and Choreographer, Dies at 60

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

In 1996, he was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, and that same year, Howard University established the Benny Golson Jazz Master Award.

He continued to tour and compose music well into his 90s. In 2016 he released his autobiography, Whisper Not. He told his co-author Jim Merod that his illustrious career was due to his ongoing need for creative pursuits, since “being satisfied is a curse,” he said per NYT. “You tend to slow down or come to a stop. Just like having an ego problem. That brings creativity to a halt. The ego only looks outside of itself.”

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.