Killer Joe is a jazz standard by the tenor saxophonist and arranger Benny Golson, who wrote the music; it has no lyricist. The tune is in 32-bar AABA form and belongs to the hard bop style. The Art Farmer/Benny Golson Jazztet first recorded it in New York in February 1960 for their debut album, Meet the Jazztet, on Argo, a record that made the group known. Golson recorded a short spoken introduction to the piece, which he later regretted.
Quincy Jones popularised the title with his 1969 version on Walking in Space. Other recorders include Art Blakey, Milt Jackson, Lionel Hampton, Bud Shank, Joe Beck and Barbara Dennerlein. Golson's own 1977 album and George Kawaguchi and Art Blakey's 1981 album are both titled Killer Joe.
