Theodore Curson (June 3, 1935 – November 4, 2012) was an American
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
trumpeter.
Life and career
Curson was born in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. He became interested in playing trumpet after watching a newspaper salesman play a silver trumpet. Curson's father, however, wanted him to play
alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...
like
Louis Jordan
Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as " the King of the Jukebox", he earned his high ...
. When he was ten, he gained his first trumpet.
He attended
Granoff School of Music
The Granoff School of Music is a music school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Isadore Granoff (1902 - 2000), a Ukrainian immigrant.
Alumni of Granoff include Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Fortune, and John Coltrane. Some of his student ...
in Philadelphia. (web version) At the suggestion of
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...
, he moved to New York in 1956. He performed and recorded with
Cecil Taylor
Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet.
Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in complex ...
in the late 1950s and early 1960s. His composition "Tears for Dolphy" has been used in numerous films. He was featured in a profile on composer
Graham Collier
James Graham Collier (21 February 1937 – 9 September 2011) was an English jazz bassist, bandleader and composer.
Life and career
Born in Tynemouth, Northumberland, England, on leaving school Collier joined the British Army as a musician, ...
in the 1985
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
documentary 'Hoarded Dreams'
He was a familiar face in Finland, having performed at the
Pori Jazz
Pori Jazz is a large international jazz festival, held annually during the month of July in the coastal city of Pori (a population of 82,809 in January 2010), Finland. It is one of the oldest and best known jazz festivals in Europe, having bee ...
festival every year since it began in 1966. In 2007, he performed at Finland's Independence Day Ball at the invitation of president
Tarja Halonen
Tarja Kaarina Halonen (; born 24 December 1943) is a Finnish politician who served as the 11th president of Finland, and the first woman to hold the position, from 2000 to 2012. She first rose to prominence as a lawyer with the Central Organisa ...
.
A longtime resident of
Montclair, New Jersey
Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As ...
The Star-Ledger
''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to ''The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of wh ...
'', September 28, 2003, backed up by the
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
as of September 27, 2008. Accessed September 15, 2017. "Ted Curson -- Long-time Montclair resident Curson is a bold trumpeter who has performed and/or recorded with Charles Mingus, Eric Dolphy, Andrew Hill, Cecil Taylor and the Spirit of Life Ensemble." Curson died from a heart attack in the township on November 4, 2012.
Tears for Dolphy
''Tears for Dolphy'' is a 1964 album by jazz trumpeter Ted Curson. The album's title track, an elegy for Eric Dolphy (who died at the end of June that year), has been used in many films.
Reception
Brian Morton and Richard Cook, writing for ...
'' (Fontana, 1965)
* ''
The New Thing & the Blue Thing
''The New Thing & the Blue Thing'' is an album by American trumpeter Ted Curson which was recorded in 1965 and released on the Atlantic label.
Jubilant Power
''Jubilant Power'' is an album by American trumpeter Ted Curson which has one side recorded live in Philadelphia and the other recorded in a New York studio the following day which was first released on the Inner City label in 1976.Quicksand
Quicksand is a colloid consisting of fine granular material (such as sand, silt or clay) and water. It forms in saturated loose sand when the sand is suddenly agitated. When water in the sand cannot escape, it creates a liquefied soil that los ...
'' (Atlantic, 1977)
* ''
Flip Top
''Flip Top'' is an album by American trumpeter Ted Curson which has one side recorded in the studio in 1964 at the same sessions that produced '' Tears for Dolphy'' and one side recorded live at the Seventh Yugoslavia Jazz Festival in Ljubljana w ...
Dizzy Reece
Alphonso Son "Dizzy" Reece (born 5 January 1931) is a Jamaican-born hard bop jazz trumpeter. Reece is among a group of jazz musicians born in Jamaica which includes Bertie King, Joe Harriott, Roland Alphonso, Wilton Gaynair, Sonny Bradshaw, ...
(Interplay, 1978)
* '' The Trio'' (Interplay, 1979)
* '' I Heard Mingus'' (Trio, 1980)
* ''
Snake Johnson
''Snake Johnson'' is an album by trumpeter Ted Curson which was recorded in 1980 and first released on the Chiaroscuro label.Bill Barron
* ''
The Tenor Stylings of Bill Barron
''The Tenor Stylings of Bill Barron'' is the debut album by saxophonist Bill Barron which was recorded in 1961 and first released on the Savoy label. The album was reissued on CD combined with ''Modern Windows'' in 2000.
Reception
In his rev ...
'' (Savoy, 1961)
* ''
Modern Windows
''Modern Windows'' (subtitled ''A Jazz Suite from the New "Soul" by Bill Barron'') is an album by saxophonist Bill Barron which was recorded in 1961 and first released on the Savoy label. The album was reissued on CD combined with ''The Tenor St ...
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and ...
* ''
Mingus
The name Mingus may refer to:
* Charles Mingus (1922–1979), jazz composer and double bass player
** Sue Mingus, wife of the jazz composer
** ''Mingus'' (Charles Mingus album), 1961 album by Charles Mingus
** ''Mingus'' (Joni Mitchell album) ...
Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus
''Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus'' is an album by the jazz double bassist and composer Charles Mingus, recorded in October 1960 and released in December of the same year. The quartet of Mingus, multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy, trumpet ...
'' (Candid, 1961)
* ''
Mingus Revisited
''Pre-Bird'' (later re-released as ''Mingus Revisited'') is an album by jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus consisting of music that was composed before Mingus first heard Charlie Parker, hence the title ''Pre-Bird''. It was released on M ...
Cecil Taylor
Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet.
Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in complex ...
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...
, 1959)
* '' Into the Hot'' (Impulse!, 1962)
* ''In Transition'' (Blue Note, 1975)
* ''The New Breed'' (ABC Impulse!, 1978) (reissue of tracks from ''Into the Hot'')
With others
*
Pepper Adams
Park Frederick "Pepper" Adams III (October 8, 1930 – September 10, 1986) was an American jazz baritone saxophonist and composer. He composed 42 pieces, was the leader on eighteen albums spanning 28 years, and participated in 600 sessions as a s ...
Ran Blake
Ran Blake (born April 20, 1935) is an American pianist, composer, and educator. He is known for his unique style that combines blues, gospel, classical, and film noir influences into an innovative and dark jazz sound. His career spans over 40 rec ...
, ''Film Noir'' (Arista Novus, 1980)
*
Nick Brignola
Nicholas Thomas "Nick" Brignola (July 17, 1936 – February 8, 2002) was an American jazz baritone saxophonist.
Biography
Brignola was born on July 17, 1936 in Troy, New York. He was born into a musical family in which his father played the tu ...
, ''
Baritone Madness
''Baritone Madness'', is the debut album by baritone saxophonist Nick Brignola's Sextet featuring Pepper Adams which was recorded in late 1977 becoming the first release on the Bee Hive label.
Bill Dixon 7-tette/Archie Shepp and the New York Contemporary 5
''Bill Dixon 7-tette/Archie Shepp and the New York Contemporary 5'' is an album released on the Savoy label originally featuring one LP side by Bill Dixon's septet and one LP side by the New York Contemporary Five featuring saxophonist Archie She ...
'' (Savoy, 1964)
*
Graham Collier
James Graham Collier (21 February 1937 – 9 September 2011) was an English jazz bassist, bandleader and composer.
Life and career
Born in Tynemouth, Northumberland, England, on leaving school Collier joined the British Army as a musician, ...
, ''
Hoarded Dreams
''Hoarded Dreams'' is a live album by bassist/composer Graham Collier featuring a composition commissioned for the Bracknell Jazz Festival by the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1983 and released on the Cuneiform label in 2007.
Reception
All ...
'' (Cuneiform, 2007)
*
Eric Dolphy
Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist and flautist. On a few occasions, he also played the clarinet and piccolo. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gai ...
Gil Evans
Ian Ernest Gilmore Evans (né Green; May 13, 1912 – March 20, 1988) was a Canadian–American jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest orchestrators in jazz, playing an important role ...
, ''Into The Hot'' (Impulse!, 1962)
* Andrew Hill, ''
Spiral
In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving farther away as it revolves around the point.
Helices
Two major definitions of "spiral" in the American Heritage Dictionary are:Karin Krog
Karin Krog (born 15 May 1937) is a Norwegian jazz singer.
Life and career
Krog began singing jazz as a teenager and attracted attention while performing in jam sessions in Oslo. In 1955, she was hired by the pianist Kjell Karlsen to sing in ...
, ''Joy'' (Meantime, 2008)
*
Teo Macero
Attilio Joseph "Teo" Macero (October 30, 1925 – February 19, 2008) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and record producer. He was a producer at Columbia Records for twenty years. Macero produced Miles Davis' '' Bitches Brew'', and ...
, ''Impressions of Charles Mingus'' (Palo Alto, 1983)
*
Misha Mengelberg
Misha Mengelberg (5 June 1935 – 3 March 2017) was a Dutch jazz pianist and composer.Feather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira (2007) ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', p. 459. Oxford University Press. A prominent figure in post-WWII European Jazz ...
&
Piet Noordijk
Piet Noordijk (May 25, 1932 – October 8, 2011) was a Dutch saxophonist.
Noordijk played with orchestras and big bands, including The Skymasters, The Ramblers and Malando. He was awarded the Wessel Ilcken Prize in 1965. Between 1978 and 1992, N ...
Sal Nistico
Sal, SAL, or S.A.L. may refer to:
Personal name
* Sal (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname
Places
* Sal, Cape Verde, an island and municipality
* Sal, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province
* Ca ...
Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz.
Biography Early life
Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...
Andrzej Trzaskowski
Andrzej Trzaskowski (23 March 1933 – 16 September 1998) was a Polish jazz composer and musicologist. From the mid-1950s onward, he was regarded as an authority on syncopated music.
Biography
Early life and education
Andrzej Trzaskowski ...
, ''
Seant
''Seant'' is a studio album by Andrzej Trzaskowski Sextet released on Polskie Nagrania Muza, Polskie Nagrania in 1966 as Polish Jazz series volume 11. Album features American jazz trumpeter Ted Curson. The album is regarded by ''Jazz Forum'' as o ...