Curtis Fuller

Curtis DuBois Fuller (December 15, 1932 –May 8, 2021) was an American jazz trombonist. He was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributed to many classic jazz recordings.

Early life
Fuller was born in Detroit on December 15, 1932. Throughout his life, his birthdate was reported differently because he had added two years to his age at 17, in part to gain work. His father had emigrated from Jamaica and worked in a Ford factory, but died from tuberculosis before his son was born. His mother, who had moved north from Atlanta, died when Curtis was nine. He spent several years in an orphanage run by Jesuits. Fuller developed a passion for jazz after one of the nuns took him to see Illinois Jacquet and his band, with J. J. Johnson on trombone.

Fuller attended a public school in his hometown, along with Paul Chambers, Donald Byrd, Tommy Flanagan, Thad Jones and Milt Jackson. After attempting the violin, and with the saxophone (his next choice) being unavailable, he took up the trombone when he was 16. He studied under Johnson and Elmer James.

Career
Fuller joined the US Army in 1953 to fight in the Korean War. He served until 1955, and played in a band with Chambers and brothers Cannonball and Nat Adderley. Upon his return from military service, Fuller joined the quintet of Yusef Lateef, another Detroit musician. The quintet moved to New York in 1957, and Fuller recorded his first sessions as a leader with Prestige.

Alfred Lion of Blue Note Records first heard Fuller playing with Miles Davis in the late 1950s. Fuller led four dates for Blue Note, though one of these, an album with Slide Hampton, was not issued for many years. Lion featured Fuller as a sideman on record dates led by Sonny Clark (Dial "S" for Sonny, Sonny's Crib) and John Coltrane (Blue Train). Other sideman appearances over the next decade included album work 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 the first trombonist to be part of the Art Farmer-Benny Golson Jazztet. In 1961, he became the sixth member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and stayed with Blakey until 1965. In the early 1960s, Fuller recorded two albums as a leader for Impulse! Records, having also recorded for Savoy Records, United Artists, 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 tour with Count Basie and also reunited with Blakey and Golson.

Later life
Fuller married Catherine Rose Driscoll in 1980. She died of lung cancer in 2010; Fuller recorded his album The Story of Cathy & Me (2011) as a tribute.

Fuller was granted an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee College of Music in 1999. Eight years later, he was honored as an NEA Jazz Master. He continued to perform and record, and was a faculty member of the New York State Summer School of the Arts (NYSSSA) School of Jazz Studies (SJS).

Fuller died May 8, 2021, at the age of 88. He had eight children, nine grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.

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, 1961)
 * 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, 1963)
 * Cabin in the Sky (Impulse!, 1962)
 * Jazz Conference Abroad (Smash, 1961 [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)
 * Curtis Fuller Meets Roma Jazz Trio (Timeless, 1984)
 * Up Jumped Spring (Delmark, 2004)
 * Keep It Simple (Savant, 2005)
 * I Will Tell Her (Capri, 2010)
 * The Story of Cathy & Me (2011)
 * 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) – rec. 1975

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)
 * Indestructible (Blue Note, 1966)
 * Kyoto (Riverside, 1966)
 * Thermo (Milestone, 1973)
 * In My Prime Vol. 1 (Timeless, 1978)


 * Live at the Renaissance Club (Blue Note, 1978)
 * Live Messengers (Blue Note, 1978)

With Sonny Clark
 * Dial "S" for Sonny (Blue Note, 1957)
 * Sonny's Crib (Blue Note, 1958)

With John Coltrane
 * Blue Train (Blue Note, 1958)
 * Tanganyika Strut (Savoy, 1958) Coltrane co-led with Wilbur Harden
 * Jazz Way Out (Savoy, 1958) as for Tanganyika Strut
 * Dial Africa: The Savoy Sessions (Savoy, 1977) reissue of the 1958 Savoy sessions
 * Gold Coast (Savoy, 1978) – rec. 1958

With Kenny Dorham
 * This Is the Moment! (Riverside, 1958)
 * Hot Stuff from Brazil (West Wind, 1988)

With Art Farmer
 * Brass Shout (United Artists, 1959)
 * Meet the Jazztet (Argo, 1960)
 * Jazztet, Back to the City (Contemporary, 1986)
 * Jazztet, Real Time (Contemporary, 1988)

With Joe Farnsworth
 * It's Prime Time (Eighty-Eight's, 2003)
 * Drumspeak (Commodore, 2006)

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)/Just Jazz! (Audio Fidelity, 1965)
 * California Message (Baystate, 1981)
 * One More Mem'ry (Baystate, 1982)

With Lionel Hampton
 * Hamp in Haarlem (Timeless, 1979)
 * Live in Europe (Elite Special, 1980)
 * Outrageous (Glad-Hamp, 1982)

With Jimmy Heath
 * The Thumper (Riverside, 1960)
 * Love and Understanding (Muse, 1973)
 * Fast Company (Milestone, 1975)
 * The Time and the Place (Landmark, 1994)

With Joe Henderson
 * Mode for Joe (Blue Note, 1966)
 * In Pursuit of Blackness (Milestone, 1971)

With Freddie Hubbard
 * The Artistry of Freddie Hubbard (Impulse!, 1963)
 * The Body & the Soul (Impulse!, 1963)

With Philly Joe Jones
 * Drums Around the World (Riverside, 1959)
 * Together! (Atlantic, 1964)

With Quincy Jones


 * Newport '61 (Mercury, 1961)
 * The Quintessence (Impulse!, 1962)

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 Mike Longo
 * The Awakening (Mainstream, 1972)
 * New York '78 (Consolidated Artists, 1996)

With Machito
 * With Flute to Boot (Roulette, 1959)
 * Latin Soul Plus Jazz (Caliente, 1973)

With Blue Mitchell
 * Big 6 (Riverside, 1958)
 * Blue Soul (Riverside, 1959)

With Jackie McLean
 * Makin' the Changes (New Jazz, 1960)
 * A Long Drink of the Blues (New Jazz, 1961)

With Hank Mobley
 * Monday Night at Birdland (Roulette, 1959)
 * Another Monday Night at Birdland (Roulette, 1959)
 * A Caddy for Daddy (Blue Note, 1966)

With Lee Morgan
 * City Lights (Blue Note, 1957)
 * Tom Cat (Blue Note, 1980)

With Woody Shaw
 * Woody III (Columbia, 1979)
 * For Sure! (Columbia, 1980)
 * Rosewood (Columbia, 1977 [1978])

With Jimmy Smith
 * House Party (Blue Note, 1957 [1958])
 * Confirmation (Blue Note, 1979)
 * Special Guests (Blue Note, 1984)

With Stanley Turrentine
 * The Sugar Man (CTI, 1975)
 * In Memory Of (Blue Note, 1979)

With Cedar Walton
 * Eastern Rebellion 3 (Timeless, 1980)
 * Cedar's Blues (Red, 1985)

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)
 * Willis Conover, Jazz Committee for Latin American Affairs (FM, 1963)
 * Buddy DeFranco, Blues Bag (Vee Jay, 1965)
 * 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)
 * John Jenkins, Jazz Eyes (Regent, 1957)
 * Cliff Jordan, Cliff Jordan (Blue Note, 1957)
 * Abbey Lincoln, It's Magic (Riverside, 1958)
 * Booker Little, New York Sessions (Lone Hill, 2004)
 * Gary McFarland, Today (Skye, 1970)
 * 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)
 * Pat Thomas, Jazz Patterns (Strand, 1961)
 * Mickey Tucker, Theme for a Woogie-Boogie (Denon, 1979)
 * 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)