Ted Curson
American jazz trumpeter (1935–2012)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Theodore Curson (June 3, 1935 – November 4, 2012) was an American jazz trumpeter.[1][2]
Ted Curson | |
|---|---|
| |
| Background information | |
| Born | June 3, 1935 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | November 4, 2012 (aged 77) Montclair, New Jersey |
| Genres | Jazz, avant-garde jazz |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | Trumpet |
| Years active | 1955–2012 |
| Labels | Prestige, Fontana, Atlantic, Freedom, Futura, Marge, Trident, Whynot, Inner City, Chiaroscuro |
| Formerly of | Charles Mingus, Spirit of Life Ensemble |
Life and career
Curson was born in Philadelphia.[1] He became interested in playing trumpet after watching a newspaper salesman play a silver trumpet.[3] Curson's father, however, wanted him to play alto saxophone like Louis Jordan.[3] When he was ten, he gained his first trumpet.[3]
He attended Granoff School of Music in Philadelphia.[4] At the suggestion of Miles Davis, he moved to New York in 1956.[1] He performed and recorded with Cecil Taylor in the late 1950s and early 1960s.[1][5] His composition "Tears for Dolphy" has been used in numerous films.[6][7][8] He was featured in a profile on composer Graham Collier in the 1985 Channel 4 documentary, Hoarded Dreams.[9]
He was a familiar face in Finland, having performed at the Pori Jazz festival every year since it began in 1966.[2] In 2007, he performed at Finland's Independence Day Ball at the invitation of president Tarja Halonen.[10]
A longtime resident of Montclair, New Jersey,[11] Curson died from a heart attack in the township on November 4, 2012.[2]
Discography
As leader
- Plenty of Horn (Old Town, 1961)
- Ted Curson Plays Fire Down Below (Prestige, 1963)
- Live at La'Tete De L'Art (Trans-World, 1962)
- Tears for Dolphy (Fontana, 1965)
- The New Thing & the Blue Thing (Atlantic, 1965)
- Urge (Fontana, 1966)
- Ode to Booker Ervin (Columbia, 1970)
- Pop Wine (Futura, 1971)
- Cattin' Curson (Marge, 1975)
- Blue Piccolo (Whynot, 1976)
- Jubilant Power (Inner City, 1976)
- Quicksand (Atlantic, 1977)
- Flip Top (Arista/Freedom, 1977)
- Fireball (Trio, 1979)
- Blowin' Away with Dizzy Reece (Interplay, 1978)
- The Trio (Interplay, 1979)
- I Heard Mingus (Trio, 1980)
- Snake Johnson (Chiaroscuro, 1981)
- Traveling On (Evidence, 1997)
As sideman
With Bill Barron
- The Tenor Stylings of Bill Barron (Savoy, 1961)
- Modern Windows (Savoy, 1962)
- Now, Hear This! (Audio Fidelity, 1964)
With Charles Mingus
- Mingus (Candid, 1961)
- Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus (Candid, 1961)
- Mingus Revisited (Limelight, 1965)
- Mingus at Antibes (Atlantic, 1976)
With Cecil Taylor
- Love for Sale (United Artists, 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, California Cookin' (Interplay, 1991)
- Ran Blake, Film Noir (Arista Novus, 1980)
- Nick Brignola, Baritone Madness (Bee Hive, 1978)
- Bill Dixon & Archie Shepp, Bill Dixon 7-tette/Archie Shepp and the New York Contemporary 5 (Savoy, 1964)
- Graham Collier, Hoarded Dreams (Cuneiform, 2007)
- Eric Dolphy, Candid, Dolphy (Candid, 1989)
- Eric Dolphy, Outward Bound (Poll Winners, 2011)
- Gil Evans, Into The Hot (Impulse!, 1962)
- Andrew Hill, Spiral (Arista/Freedom, 1975)
- Karin Krog, Joy (Meantime, 2008)
- Teo Macero, Impressions of Charles Mingus (Palo Alto, 1983)
- Misha Mengelberg & Piet Noordijk, Journey (MCN, 2011)
- Mark Murphy, Living Room (Muse, 1986)
- Sal Nistico, Neo/Nistico (Bee Hive, 1978)
- Archie Shepp, Fire Music (Impulse!, 1965)
- Archie Shepp, Quartet (FreeFactory, 2009)
- Andrzej Trzaskowski, Seant (1966)