Curtis Fuller
Curtis DuBois Fuller (born December 15, 1934) is an American jazz trombonist, known as a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributor to many classic jazz recordings.[1]
Curtis Fuller | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Curtis DuBois Fuller |
Born | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | December 15, 1934
Genres | Jazz, bebop, hard bop, soul jazz |
Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, educator |
Instruments | Trombone |
Years active | 1953–present |
Labels | Blue Note, Prestige, Savoy, Impulse!, Epic, Atlantic |
Biography
Fuller's Jamaican-born parents died when he was young; he was raised in an orphanage. While in Detroit he was a school friend of Paul Chambers and Donald Byrd, and also knew Tommy Flanagan, Thad Jones and Milt Jackson. After army service between 1953 and 1955 (when he played in a band with Chambers and brothers Cannonball and Nat Adderley), Fuller joined the quintet of Yusef Lateef, another Detroit musician. In 1957 the quintet moved to New York, and Fuller recorded his first sessions as a leader for Prestige Records.
Alfred Lion of Blue Note Records first heard Fuller playing with Miles Davis in the late 1950s, and featured him as a sideman on record dates led by Sonny Clark (Dial "S" for Sonny, Sonny's Crib) and John Coltrane (Blue Train). Fuller led four dates for Blue Note, though one of these, an album with Slide Hampton, was not issued for many years. Other sideman appearances over the next decade included work on albums under the leadership of Bud Powell, Jimmy Smith, Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan and Joe Henderson (a former roommate at Wayne State University in 1956).
Fuller was also the first trombonist to be a member of the Art Farmer-Benny Golson Jazztet, later becoming the sixth man in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1961, staying with Blakey until 1965. In the early 1960s, Fuller recorded two albums as a leader for Impulse! Records, having also recorded for Savoy Records and Epic after his obligations to Blue Note had ended. In the late 1960s, he was part of Dizzy Gillespie's band that also featured Foster Elliott. Fuller went on to tour with Count Basie and also reunited with Blakey and Golson.
In 1999, Curtis Fuller was awarded an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee College of Music.[2]
In 2007 Fuller was named an NEA Jazz Master.
Fuller continues to perform and record, and is a faculty member of the New York State Summer School of the Arts (NYSSSA) School of Jazz Studies (SJS).[3]
On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Curtis Fuller among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.[4]
Discography
As leader
- New Trombone (Prestige, 1957)
- Bone & Bari (Blue Note, 1957)
- The Opener (Blue Note, 1957)
- Jazz ...It's Magic! (Regent, 1958)
- The Curtis Fuller Jazztet (Savoy, 1959)
- Sliding Easy (United Artists, 1959)
- Blues-ette (Savoy, 1959)
- Curtis Fuller Volume 3 (Blue Note, 1960)
- South American Cookin' (Epic, 1961)
- The Magnificent Trombone of Curtis Fuller (Epic, 1961)
- Boss of the Soul-Stream Trombone (Warwick, 1961)
- Images of Curtis Fuller (Savoy, 1962)
- Curtis Fuller with Red Garland (New Jazz, 1962)
- Cabin in the Sky (Impulse!, 1962)
- Jazz Conference Abroad (Smash, 1962)
- Soul Trombone (Impulse!, 1962)
- Imagination (Savoy, 1963)
- Curtis Fuller and Hampton Hawes with French Horns (Status, 1965)
- Smokin' (Mainstream, 1972)
- Crankin' (Mainstream, 1973)
- Fire and Filigree (Bee Hive, 1979)
- Two Bones (Blue Note, 1980)
- Up Jumped Spring (Delmark, 2004)
- Keep It Simple (Savant, 2005)
- I Will Tell Her (Capri, 2010)
- Down Home (Capri, 2012)
- In New Orleans (Progressive, 2018)
As sideman
With Count Basie
- Basie Big Band (Pablo, 1975)
- I Told You So (Pablo, 1976)
- Prime Time (Pablo, 1977)
- Fun Time (Pablo, 1991)
With Dave Bailey
- One Foot in the Gutter (Epic, 1960)
- Gettin' Into Somethin' (Epic, 1960)
- Bash! (Jazzline, 1961)
- Modern Mainstream (Fontana, 1963)
With Art Blakey
- Art Blakey!!!!! Jazz Messengers!!!!! (Impulse!, 1961)
- Mosaic (Blue Note, 1961)
- Three Blind Mice (United Artists, 1962)
- Caravan (Riverside, 1962)
- Ugetsu (Riverside, 1963)
- The African Beat (Blue Note, 1962)
- Buhaina's Delight (Blue Note, 1963)
- Golden Boy (Colpix, 1963)
- Free For All (Blue Note, 1965)
- 'S Make It (Limelight, 1965)
- Blues Bag (Vee Jay, 1965)
- Indestructible (Blue Note, 1966)
- Kyoto (Riverside, 1966)
- Thermo (Milestone, 1973)
- In My Prime Vol. 1 (Timeless, 1978)
- In My Prime Vol. 2 (Timeless, 1978)
- Live at the Renaissance Club (Blue Note, 1978)
- Live Messengers (Blue Note, 1978)
With John Coltrane
- Blue Train (Blue Note, 1957)
- Tanganyika Strut (Savoy, 1958)
- Dial Africa (Savoy, 1977)
- Gold Coast (Savoy, 1978)
With Kenny Dorham
- This Is the Moment (Riverside, 1958)
- Bash! (Jazz Line, 1961)
- Hot Stuff from Brazil (West Wind, 1988)
With Art Farmer
- Brass Shout (United Artists, 1959)
- Meet the Jazztet (Argo, 1960)
- Back to the City (Contemporary, 1986)
- Real Time (Contemporary, 1988)
With Joe Farnsworth
- It's Prime Time (Eighty-Eight's, 2003)
- Drumspeak (Commodore, 2006)
- Make Someone Happy (Hadley Street, 2014)
With Benny Golson
- Groovin' with Golson (New Jazz, 1959)
- The Other Side of Benny Golson (Riverside, 1959)
- Gone with Golson (New Jazz, 1960)
- Gettin' with It (New Jazz, 1960)
- Take a Number from 1 to 10 (Argo, 1961)
- Pop + Jazz = Swing (Audio Fidelity, 1962)
- California Message (Baystate, 1981)
- One More Mem'ry (Baystate, 1982)
- Just Jazz! (Audio Fidelity, 1965)
With Lionel Hampton
- Hamp in Haarlem (Timeless, 1979)
- Live in Europe (Elite Special, 1980)
- Outrageous (Glad-Hamp, 1982)
- Ambassador at Large (Glad-Hamp, 1984)
With Jimmy Heath
- The Thumper (Riverside, 1960)
- Love and Understanding (Muse, 1973)
- Fast Company (Milestone, 1975)
- The Time and the Place (Landmark, 1994)
With Quincy Jones
- Around the World (Mercury, 1961)
- Newport '61 (Mercury, 1961)
- The Quintessence (Impulse!, 1962)
- Quincy Plays for Pussycats (Mercury, 1965)
With Yusef Lateef
- Jazz for the Thinker (Savoy, 1957)
- Stable Mates (Savoy, 1957)
- Jazz Mood (Savoy, 1957)
- Before Dawn: The Music of Yusef Lateef (Verve, 1957)
- The Centaur and the Phoenix (Riverside, 1960)
With Hank Mobley
- Monday Night at Birdland (Roulette, 1959)
- Another Monday Night at Birdland (Roulette, 1959)
- A Caddy for Daddy (Blue Note, 1966)
With Woody Shaw
With Jimmy Smith
- House Party (Blue Note, 1958)
- Confirmation (Blue Note, 1979)
- Special Guests (Blue Note, 1984)
- The Sermon! (Blue Note, 1987)
With others
- Ahmed Abdul-Malik, East Meets West (RCA Victor, 1960)
- Walter Bishop Jr., Cubicle (Muse, 1978)
- Bob Brookmeyer, Jazz Is a Kick (Mercury, 1960)
- Paul Chambers, 1st Bassman (Vee Jay, 1960)
- Sonny Clark, Dial "S" for Sonny (Blue Note, 1957)
- Sonny Clark, Sonny's Crib (Blue Note, 1958)
- Willis Conover, Jazz Committee for Latin American Affairs (FM, 1963)
- Lou Donaldson, Lou Takes Off (Blue Note, 1958)
- Gil Evans, Great Jazz Standards (World Pacific, 1959)
- Tommy Flanagan, Trio and Sextet (Onyx, 1973)
- Dizzy Gillespie, The Dizzy Gillespie Reunion Big Band (MPS, 1969)
- Dexter Gordon, Great Encounters (Columbia, 1979)
- Johnny Griffin, The Cat (Antilles, 1991)
- Slide Hampton, World of Trombones (West 54, 1979)
- Wilbur Harden, Jazz Way Out (Savoy, 1958)
- Hampton Hawes, Baritones and French Horns (Prestige, 1957)
- Albert Heath, Kwanza (The First) (Muse, 1974)
- Joe Henderson, Mode for Joe (Blue Note, 1966)
- Joe Henderson, In Pursuit of Blackness (Milestone, 1971)
- Freddie Hubbard, The Artistry of Freddie Hubbard (Impulse!, 1963)
- Freddie Hubbard, The Body & the Soul (Impulse!, 1963)
- John Jenkins, Jazz Eyes (Regent, 1957)
- Philly Joe Jones, Drums Around the World (Riverside, 1959)
- Philly Joe Jones, Together! (Atlantic, 1964)
- Cliff Jordan, Cliff Jordan (Blue Note, 1957)
- Abbey Lincoln, It's Magic (Riverside, 1958)
- Booker Little, New York Sessions (Lone Hill, 2004)
- Mike Longo, The Awakening (Mainstream, 1972)
- Mike Longo, New York '78 (Consolidated Artists, 1996)
- Machito, With Flute to Boot (Roulette, 1959)
- Machito, Latin Soul Plus Jazz (Caliente, 1973)
- Blue Mitchell, Big 6 (Riverside, 1958)
- Blue Mitchell, Blue Soul (Riverside, 1959)
- Jackie McLean, Makin' the Changes (New Jazz, 1960)
- Jackie McLean, A Long Drink of the Blues (New Jazz, 1961)
- Gary McFarland, Today (Skye, 1970)
- Lee Morgan, City Lights (Blue Note, 1957)
- Lee Morgan, Tom Cat (Blue Note, 1980)
- David "Fathead" Newman, Song for the New Man (HighNote, 2004)
- David "Fathead" Newman, Diamondhead (HighNote, 2008)
- Judy Niemack, Blue Bop (Free Lance, 1989)
- Cecil Payne, Bright Moments (Spotlite, 1980)
- Houston Person, Blue Odyssey (Prestige, 1968)
- Bud Powell, Bud! The Amazing Bud Powell (Vol. 3) (Blue Note, 1957)
- Paul Quinichette, On the Sunny Side (Prestige, 1957)
- Wayne Shorter, Schizophrenia (Blue Note, 1969)
- Mickey Tucker, Theme for a Woogie-Boogie (Denon, 1979)
- Stanley Turrentine, The Sugar Man (CTI, 1975)
- Stanley Turrentine, In Memory Of (Blue Note, 1979)
- Cedar Walton, Eastern Rebellion 3 (Timeless, 1980)
- Cedar Walton, Cedar's Blues (Red, 1985)
- Bobby Watson, All Because of You (Roulette, 1978)
- Frank Wess, Opus de Blues (Savoy, 1984)
- Ernie Wilkins, K.A.L.E.I.D.O.D.U.K.E (Birdology, 1994)
- Kai Winding and Curtis Fuller, Giant Bones '80 (Sonet, 1980)
- Phil Woods, Rights of Swing (Candid, 1961)
References
- "Curtis Fuller Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
- "Curtis Fuller". Arts.gov. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
- NYSSSA SJS Artistic Staff Archived 2010-07-04 at the Wayback Machine
- Rosen, Jody (June 25, 2019). "Here Are Hundreds More Artists Whose Tapes Were Destroyed in the UMG Fire". The New York Times. Retrieved June 28, 2019.