California Message

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]

The AllMusic review by Steve Loewy said "While not one of Benny Golson's best recordings, there are still delights to be found. Golson leads a septet of trombonist Curtis Fuller plus mostly studio musicians from the Los Angeles area, performing a set of generally well-known tunes written by the leader ... trumpeter Oscar Brashear is a pleasant surprise with his lyrical, forward-looking solos. Golson is a pleasure to hear, too, on both tenor and soprano saxophones. Largely, the recording is fairly ordinary, though, with a sense that much of this has been done before, only better, by groups led by Golson. There is better Golson available elsewhere".^[5]

All compositions by Benny Golson

1. "California Message" – 5:41
2. "Soul Talk" – 6:41
3. "Blues March" – 5:56
4. "The Berliner" – 5:48
5. "Whisper Not" – 8:55
6. "Free Again" – 7:15
7. "I Remember Clifford" – 6:30

• Benny Golson – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
• Curtis Fuller – trombone
• Oscar Brashear – trumpet
• Thurman Green – trombone
• Bill Mays – piano
• Bob Magnusson - bass
• Roy McCurdy – drums

• Fumimaru Kawashima, Makoto Kimata – producer
• Ron Nadel – engineer