# 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 U.S. Army in 1953 to fight in the Korean War. He served until 1955, and played in an army 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 Records.
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 the 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.

## Discography
### As leader

| Year recorded | Title | Label | Year released | Personnel/Notes |
| 1957 | New Trombone | Prestige | 1957 | Quintet, with Fuller (trombone), Sonny Red (alto sax), Hank Jones (piano), Doug Watkins (bass), Louis Hayes (drums) |
| 1957 | Curtis Fuller with Red Garland – with Red Garland | Prestige New Jazz | 1963 | Quintet, with Fuller (trombone), Sonny Red (alto sax), Red Garland (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Louis Hayes (drums) |
| 1957 | Curtis Fuller and Hampton Hawes with French Horns – with Hampton Hawes | Status | 1965 | Septet, with Fuller (trombone), David Amram, Julius Watkins (French horn), Sahib Shihab (alto sax), Hampton Hawes (piano), Addison Farmer (bass), Jerry Segal (drums); previously included on Baritones and French Horns (Prestige, 1958) |
| 1957 | The Opener | Blue Note | 1957 | Quintet, with Fuller (trombone), Hank Mobley (tenor sax), Bobby Timmons (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Art Taylor (drums) |
| 1957 | Bone & Bari | Blue Note | 1957 | Quintet, with Fuller (trombone), Tate Houston (baritone sax), Sonny Clark (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Art Taylor (drums) |
| 1957 | Jazz … It's Magic! | Regent | 1958 | Quintet, with Fuller (trombone), Sonny Red (alto sax), Tommy Flanagan (piano), George Tucker (bass), Louis Hayes (drums) |
| 1957 | Curtis Fuller, Volume 3 | Blue Note | 1960 | Quintet, with Fuller (trombone), Art Farmer (trumpet), Sonny Clark (piano), George Tucker (bass), Louis Hayes (drums) |
| 1958 | Two Bones | Blue Note | 1980 | Quintet, with Fuller and Slide Hampton (trombone), Sonny Clark (piano), George Tucker (bass), Charlie Persip (drums) |
| 1959 | Sliding Easy | United Artists | 1959 | Sextet, with Fuller (trombone), Lee Morgan (trumpet), Hank Mobley (tenor sax), Tommy Flanagan (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Elvin Jones (drums) |
| 1959 | Blues-ette | Savoy | 1959 | Quintet, with Fuller (trombone), Benny Golson (tenor sax), Tommy Flanagan (piano), Jimmy Garrison (bass), Al Harewood (drums) |
| 1959 | The Curtis Fuller Jazztet with Benny Golson – with Benny Golson | Savoy | 1959 | Sextet, with Fuller (trombone), Lee Morgan (trumpet), Benny Golson (tenor sax), Wynton Kelly (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Charlie Persip (drums) |
| 1959 | Imagination | Savoy | 1960 | Sextet, with Fuller (trombone), Thad Jones (trumpet), Benny Golson (tenor sax), McCoy Tyner (piano), Jimmy Garrison (bass), Dave Bailey (drums) |
| 1960 | Images of Curtis Fuller | Savoy | 1975 | Sextet, with Fuller (trombone), Wilbur Harden (trumpet), Yusef Lateef (flute, tenor sax), McCoy Tyner (piano), Jimmy Garrison (bass), Clifford Jarvis (drums) |
| 1960 | Boss of the Soul-Stream Trombone | Warwick | 1961 | Sextet, with Fuller (trombone), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Yusef Lateef (flute, tenor sax), Walter Bishop Jr. (piano), Buddy Catlett (bass), Stu Martin (drums) |
| 1961 | The Magnificent Trombone of Curtis Fuller | Epic | 1961 | Quintet, with Fuller (trombone), Les Spann (flute, guitar), Walter Bishop Jr. (piano), Buddy Catlett or Jimmy Garrison (bass), Stu Martin (drums) |
| 1961 | Jazz Conference Abroad | Smash | 1961 | With Fuller, David Baker, Melba Liston, Åke Persson (trombone), Benny Bailey, Paul Cohen, Rolf Ericson, Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Julius Watkins (French horn), Joe Lopes, Phil Woods (alto sax), Budd Johnson (tenor sax), Eric Dixon (tenor sax, flute), Sahib Shihab (baritone sax, flute), Patti Bown (piano), Les Spann (flute, guitar), Buddy Catlett (bass), Stu Martin (drums) |
| 1961 | South American Cookin' | Epic | 1961 | Quintet, with Fuller (trombone), Zoot Sims (tenor sax), Tommy Flanagan (piano), Jymie Merritt (bass), Dave Bailey (drums) |
| 1961 | Soul Trombone | Impulse! | 1962 | Sextet, with Fuller (trombone), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Jimmy Heath (tenor sax), Cedar Walton (piano), Jymie Merritt (bass), Jimmy Cobb/G. T. Hogan (drums) |
| 1962 | Cabin in the Sky | Impulse! | 1962 | With Fuller, Wayne Andre, Bob Brookmeyer, Alan Raph, Kai Winding (trombone), Bernie Glow, Freddie Hubbard, Al De Risi, Ernie Royal (trumpet), Ray Alonge, James Buffington, Tony Miranda, Morris Secon (French horn), Harvey Phillips (tuba), Hank Jones (piano), Eddie Costa (piano, percussion), Art Davis (bass), Osie Johnson (drums); with Fuller (trombone), Jones (piano), Barry Galbraith (guitar), Milt Hinton (bass), Johnson (drums), Costa (percussion), Margaret Ross (harp), unnamed string section |
| 1971 | Crankin' | Mainstream | 1973 | With Fuller (trombone), Ramon Morris (tenor sax), Bill Hardman (trumpet), Jimmy Heath (soprano, tenor sax), George Cables (electric piano), Bill Washer (guitar), Stanley Clarke (bass, electric bass), Lenny White (drums, electric percussion) |
| 1972 | Smokin' | Mainstream | 1972 | Septet, with Fuller (trombone), Bill Hardman (trumpet), Jimmy Heath (soprano, tenor sax), Cedar Walton (piano, electric piano), Ted Dunbar (guitar), Mickey Bass (bass), Billy Higgins (drums) |
| 1978 | Four on the Outside | Timeless | 1978 | Quintet, with Fuller (trombone), Pepper Adams (baritone sax), James Williams (piano), Dennis Irwin (bass), John Yarling (drums) |
| 1978 | Fire and Filigree | Bee Hive | 1979 | Quintet, with Fuller (trombone), Sal Nistico (tenor sax), Walter Bishop Jr. (piano), Sam Jones (bass), Freddie Waits (drums) |
| 1982 | Curtis Fuller Meets Roma Jazz Trio | Timeless | 1987 | Quartet, with Fuller (trombone), Danilo Rea (piano), Enzo Pietropaoli (bass), Roberto Gatto (drums) |
| 1993 | Blues-ette Part II | Savoy | 1993 | Quintet, with Fuller (trombone), Benny Golson (tenor sax), Tommy Flanagan (piano), Ray Drummond (bass), Al Harewood (drums) |
| 2002 | Curtis Fuller in New Orleans | Progressive | 2018 | Sextet, with Fuller (trombone), Maurice Brown (trumpet), Javon Jackson (tenor sax), Peter Martin (piano), Bill Huntington (bass), Jason Marsalis (drums) |
| 2003 | Up Jumped Spring – with Brad Goode | Delmark | 2004 | Quintet, with Fuller (trombone), Brad Goode (trumpet), Karl Montzka (piano), Larry Gray/Stewart Miller (bass), Tim Davis (drums), Jacey Falk (vocal, one track) |
| 2003 | Keep It Simple | Savant | 2005 | Quintet, with Fuller (trombone), Javon Jackson (tenor sax), Doug Carn (piano), Rodney Jordan (bass), Fritz Wise (drums) |
| 2009 | I Will Tell Her | Capri | 2010 | Sextet, with Fuller (trombone), Keith Oxman (tenor sax), Al Hood (trumpet), Chip Stephens (piano), Ken Walker (bass), Todd Reid (drums); live |
| 2011 | The Story of Cathy & Me | Challenge | 2011 | With Fuller (trombone), Daniel Bauerkemper/Akeem Marable (tenor sax), Lester Walker (trumpet), Nick Rosen/Kenny Banks Jr. (piano), Brandy Brewer/Kevin Smith (bass), Henry Conerway III (drums), Clarence Levy (percussion, three tracks), Tia Michelle Rouse (vocal, two tracks) |
| 2011 | Down Home | Capri | 2012 | With Fuller (trombone), Keith Oxman (tenor sax), Al Hood (trumpet, flugelhorn), Chip Stephens (piano), Ken Walker (bass), Todd Reid (drums) |