Turning Point (Benny Golson album)

Turning Point is an album by saxophonist Benny Golson, featuring performances recorded in late 1962 and originally released on the Mercury label.

Background
This was the first of a pair of quartet recordings by Golson in two months. Golson was displeased with his playing at the time: "I was frustrated, because I didn't know how I wanted to sound"; he soon stopped playing, and did not resume for seven or eight years. The title, according to Golson, "indicates my frustration with [producer] Kay Norton and Art [Farmer, co-leader of the Jazztet], because we had reached a point where we wanted to go in different directions."

Reception
The Allmusic review states, "this quartet set for tenor saxophonist Benny Golson was the beginning of the close of an era. Within a year, Golson would be working full-time as a writer in the studios, and he de-emphasized his playing until making a comeback in the late 1970s".

Track listing
All compositions by Benny Golson except as indicated
 * 1) "How Am I to Know" (Dorothy Parker, Jack King) - 3:47
 * 2) The Masquerade Is Over"" (Herbert Magidson, Allie Wrubel) - 4:38
 * 3) "Dear Kathy" - 4:48
 * 4) "Three Little Words" (Harry Ruby, Bert Kalmar) - 4:38
 * 5) "Turning Point" - 3:56
 * 6) "Stella by Starlight" (Victor Young, Ned Washington) - 4:50
 * 7) "Alone Together" (Arthur Schwartz, Howard Dietz) - 7:30
 * Recorded in New York City on October 30 (tracks 4, 5 & 7), October 31 (tracks 2 & 6) and November 1 (tracks 1 & 3), 1962

Personnel

 * Benny Golson - tenor saxophone
 * Wynton Kelly - piano
 * Paul Chambers - bass
 * Jimmy Cobb - drums