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
editCurson 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
editAs leader
edit- 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
editWith 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)
References
edit- ^ a b c d Wynn, Ron (1994). Ron Wynn (ed.). All Music Guide to Jazz. Allmusic. M. Erlewine, V. Bogdanov. San Francisco: Miller Freeman Books. p. 183. ISBN 0-87930-308-5.
- ^ a b c Gustafsson, Sari (2012-11-04). "Pori Jazzin legenda Ted Curson kuoli". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Lehtikuva.
- ^ a b c Allen, Clifford (2005-06-02). "Ted Curson: Atypical Ted". Allaboutjazz.com. All About Jazz. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
- ^ Biography at AllMusic (web version)
- ^ Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2006) [1992]. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (Eighth ed.). New York: Penguin. p. 1267. ISBN 0-14-102327-9.
- ^ "Ted Curson". ATPFestival.com. All Tomorrow's Parties. 2005. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
- ^ Gilchrist, Todd (2006-03-20). "Teorema". IGN.com. IGN Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
- ^ Teorema at IMDb
- ^ "Hoarded Dreams". Bright-thoughts.co.uk. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ^ "The President's Independence Day Reception on 6 December 2007". Office of the President of the Republic of Finland. Archived from the original on 2007-06-26. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
- ^ "The State of Jazz: Meet 40 More Jersey Greats", The Star-Ledger, September 28, 2003, backed up by the Internet Archive 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."