At age 75, trombonist Curtis Fuller’s biography is nothing less than a timeline of modern Jazz. Orphaned and institutionalized at an early age, the Detroit native was school pals with Paul Chambers and Donald Byrd and was well acquainted with Milt Jackson and Thad Jones. Learning trombone as a teenager, Fuller played with the Adderley brothers during his two-year Army hitch and joined Yusef Lateef’s groundbreaking quintet upon his return to the Motor City.
After a move to New York in the late ’50s, Fuller sessioned and gigged with (among many others) Miles Davis, Sonny Clark, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter, Blue Mitchell, John Coltrane, Bud Powell and Jimmy Smith. Fuller was the only trombonist to ever record with Coltrane, Powell and Smith.
Curtis Fuller plays the Blue Wisp Jazz Club Sunday. Go here for Brian Baker's full Sound Advice recommendation.
