THE JAZZTET (ART FARMER)

Biography

The Jazztet was co-founded in 1959 by trumpeter/flugelhorn player Art Farmer and tenor saxophonist-composer Benny Golson — a partnership born from serendipity: both had independently decided the other should be in their next band at the exact same moment, and when Golson finally called Farmer to pitch a new sextet, Farmer had been on the verge of making the very same call. The original lineup featured Curtis Fuller on trombone, McCoy Tyner on piano, Addison Farmer (Art's twin brother) on bass, and Lex Humphries on drums. They debuted publicly on November 10, 1959, in Washington, D.C., and made their New York entrance at the Five Spot one week later. Their debut album Meet the Jazztet (Argo, 1960) yielded the single "Killer Joe" — a Golson composition that sold over 40,000 copies, a remarkable figure for a jazz release — and the group won the new star award in the 1960 Down Beat International Jazz Critics Poll. McCoy Tyner departed in May 1960 to join John Coltrane's quartet, and personnel shifted through a Mercury Records phase by 1962 before the group dissolved that year.

Operating firmly within the hard bop tradition, the Jazztet distinguished itself through Golson's richly orchestrated arrangements, which gave the sextet a weight and texture closer to a small big band than the stripped-down quintets that dominated the era. Three interlocking horns produced a lush ensemble sound while still leaving room for the group's soloists to stretch — a balance Down Beat critics noted made the band "sound like a big band." Art Farmer's own voice was key to this aesthetic contrast: rather than pursuing bebop's high-note acrobatics, he favored an unusually warm, lyrical tone — on trumpet at first, and then increasingly on the flugelhorn, an instrument he began alternating with trumpet during the Jazztet's final months. That transition, initiated during the group's original run, would define his sound for the rest of his career and eventually lead him to co-develop the hybrid "flumpet" with instrument maker David Monette in 1989.

Farmer and Golson revived the Jazztet in 1982, debuting the reunion at the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague with a new rhythm section — Mickey Tucker (piano), Rufus Reid (bass), and Albert Heath (drums) — alongside original trombonist Curtis Fuller. The reunion band toured extensively and recorded six albums over the following decade on Soul Note and Contemporary Records, ending around 1992. The Jazztet's legacy rests on two pillars: the enduring standard "Killer Joe," later famously rerecorded by Quincy Jones for a mainstream audience, and the group's model of hard bop as carefully crafted composition rather than pure spontaneity — a blueprint that influenced how jazz groups balanced arrangement and improvisation for decades after.

Enhanced with Claude AI research

Fun Facts

• Both Art Farmer and Benny Golson had independently decided the other should be in their next band at the exact same moment — when Golson finally called to pitch the idea, Farmer had been on the verge of making the very same call. They essentially formed the group on the spot.
• Art Farmer first began experimenting with the flugelhorn during the Jazztet's final year (1962), alternating between trumpet and flugelhorn on different songs with instruments arranged through Boosey & Hawkes in New York. This is where his signature instrument identity began — eventually leading him to co-develop the hybrid 'flumpet' with instrument maker David Monette in 1989.
• Addison Farmer, the group's original bassist, was Art Farmer's identical twin brother, born exactly one hour after Art on August 21, 1928 — making the Jazztet one of the few jazz groups in history to feature the co-founder's twin sibling as a rhythm section anchor.
• The single 'Killer Joe,' released from the debut album in 1960, sold over 40,000 copies within months — an extraordinary figure for a jazz release in that era. Quincy Jones later recorded a famous version that brought Benny Golson's composition to a far wider mainstream audience, cementing it as one of the most durable jazz standards of the 20th century.

Musical Connections

Mentors/Influences

• Tadd Dameron - Benny Golson honed his composing and arranging skills under Dameron's direct influence, having met him while playing in Bull Moose Jackson's band in the early 1950s. [Early 1950s]
• Dizzy Gillespie - Both Art Farmer and Benny Golson cited Gillespie as a primary formative influence; Farmer internalized Gillespie's bebop vocabulary before developing his own more lyrical approach, and Golson worked alongside him early in his career. [Late 1940s–1950s]
• Clifford Brown - Art Farmer shared trumpet duties with Brown during a 1953 European tour with Lionel Hampton's orchestra — an experience Farmer called humbling but transformative. Benny Golson later wrote the standard 'I Remember Clifford' in his memory.

Key Collaborators

• Benny Golson - Co-founder, tenor saxophonist, and primary composer-arranger of the Jazztet. His arrangement philosophy defined the group's sound. The partnership began professionally in 1958 and lasted through two distinct phases. [1959–1962, 1982–1992]
• Curtis Fuller - Original trombonist and member of both the 1959–1962 lineup and the 1982 reunion band. His trombone was central to the group's three-horn ensemble texture. [1959–1962, 1982–1992]
• McCoy Tyner - Original pianist; left the Jazztet in May 1960 to join John Coltrane's quartet. His brief tenure was among his earliest significant professional engagements. [1959–1960]
• Addison Farmer - Original bassist and Art Farmer's twin brother, born one hour after Art on August 21, 1928. His presence made the Jazztet one of the rare jazz groups to feature a founder's twin sibling. [1959–1962]
• Duke Pearson - Pianist who replaced McCoy Tyner in 1960 following Tyner's departure to the Coltrane quartet. [1960–1962]
• Harold Mabern - Pianist in the Mercury-era lineup (1962), part of the entirely new rhythm section assembled for the group's final two original-era albums.
• Grachan Moncur III - Trombonist in the Mercury-era lineup (1962); the Jazztet helped launch his career before his later avant-garde work with Jackie McLean.
• Rufus Reid - Bassist in the reunion-era band (1982–1992), part of the newly assembled rhythm section that accompanied Farmer and Golson in the Jazztet's second decade. [1982–1992]
• Albert Heath - Drummer in the reunion-era band (1982–1992). [1982–1992]
• John Lewis - Pianist and MJQ co-founder who provided all compositions and arrangements for the album 'The Jazztet and John Lewis' (Argo, 1961), demonstrating the group's willingness to operate entirely within a guest composer's framework.

Artists Influenced

• McCoy Tyner - The Jazztet gave Tyner one of his first prominent professional platforms before he joined John Coltrane's classic quartet, helping launch one of jazz's most celebrated pianists. [1959–1960]
• Grachan Moncur III - The group served as an early career springboard for Moncur before his subsequent avant-garde recordings on Blue Note with Jackie McLean.

External Links

• Spotify
• Wikipedia