Curtis Fowlkes (March 19, 1950 – August 31, 2023) was an American jazz trombonist and singer. He was a founding member of The Jazz Passengers. He had a twin brother James May Fowlkes and his parents were James Ray and Rosa May Fowlkes.

Career

In 1987, Fowlkes started The Jazz Passengers with saxophonist

Roy Nathanson Roy Jay Nathanson (born May 17, 1951) is an American saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and teacher. He became the leader and principal composer of the Jazz Passengers, a six piece group that he founded with Curtis Fowlkes in 1987. They have tou ...

. He was a member of

The Lounge Lizards The Lounge Lizards were an eclectic No Wave musical group founded by saxophonist John Lurie and his brother, pianist Evan Lurie, in 1978. Initially known for their ironic, tongue-in-cheek take on jazz, The Lounge Lizards eventually became a show ...

, the Kansas City All-Stars, and a quartet led by jazz guitarist

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist. He first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts, notably as a participant ...

. He toured with

Charlie Haden Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than fifty years. Haden helped to revolutionize the harmonic concept of bass playin ...

's Liberation Music Orchestra, as well as the Duke Ellington Orchestra when it was led by drummer

Louis Bellson Louie Bellson (born Luigi Paolino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni, July 6, 1924 – February 14, 2009), often seen in sources as Louis Bellson, although he himself preferred the spelling Louie, was an American jazz drummer. He was a composer ...

. He released his debut solo album in 1999.

Death

Curtis Fowlkes died from heart failure in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, on August 31, 2023, at the age of 73.

Discography

As leader

* '' Reflect'' ( Knitting Factory, 1999) With The Jazz Passengers * ''Implement Yourself'' (New World/CounterCurrents 1990) * ''Live at the Knitting Factory'' (Knitting Factory, 1991) * ''Plain Old Joe'' (Knitting Factory, 1993) * ''In Love'' (High Street, 1994) * ''Individually Twisted'' (32 Records, 1996) * ''Re-United'' (Justin Time, 2010) * ''Still Life with Trouble'' (Thirsty Ear, 2017) With

* ''Big Heart: Live in Tokyo'' (Island, 1986) * ''

No Pain for Cakes ''No Pain for Cakes'' is the second studio album by the American jazz band the Lounge Lizards, released in 1987. John Lurie sang on the album. Production The album was recorded at Kaufman Astoria Studios, in Queens, New York. Marc Ribot contribut ...

'' (Island, 1987) * ''

Voice of Chunk ''Voice of Chunk'' is the third studio album by jazz band the Lounge Lizards, released in 1988. The album was produced independently by bandleader John Lurie, following two releases with Island Records. After unsuccessfully shopping the album to ...

'' (Lagarto, 1988)

As sideman

With Don Byron * '' Nu Blaxploitation'' (Capitol, 1998) * ''You Are #6'' (Blue Note, 2001) * ''Do the Boomerang'' (Blue Note, 2006) With

* ''

Quartet In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quar ...

'' (Nonesuch, 1996) * '' This Land'' (Elektra Nonesuch, 1994) * '' Blues Dream'' (Nonesuch, 2001) * '' Unspeakable'' (Nonesuch, 2004) With

Glen Hansard Glen James Hansard (born 21 April 1970) is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician. Since 1990, he has been the frontman of the Irish rock band The Frames, with whom he has released six studio albums, four of which have charted in the top ten o ...

* '' Didn't He Ramble'' (Anti-, 2015) * ''A Season On the Line'' (Anti-, 2016) * '' Between Two Shores'' (Anti-, 2018) * '' This Wild Willing'' (Anti-, 2019) With Charlie Hunter * ''Right Now Move'' (Ropeadope, 2003) * '' Baboon Strength'' (Spire Artist 2008) * '' Gentlemen, I Neglected to Inform You You Will Not Be Getting Paid'' (Spire Artist 2010) * '' Let the Bells Ring On'' (Charlie Hunter, 2015) * '' We Two Kings'' (Rank Hypocri$i, 2015) * '' Everybody Has a Plan Until They Get Punched in the Mouth'' (GroundUP, 2016) With

John Lurie John Lurie (born December 14, 1952) is an American musician, painter, actor, director, and producer. He co-founded the Lounge Lizards jazz ensemble; has acted in 19 films, including ''Stranger than Paradise'' and '' Down by Law''; has composed ...

* ''Stranger Than Paradise and the Resurrection of Albert Ayler'' (Attitude/Crammed Discs 1985) * ''Down by Law'' (Made to Measure/Crammed Discs 1987) * ''Excess Baggage'' (Prophecy, 1997) With

* ''Broken Night Red Light'' with Roy Nathanson, (Crepuscule, 1988) * ''Deranged and Decomposed'' with Roy Nathanson (Crepuscule, 1988) * ''Camp Stories'' (Knitting Factory, 1996) * ''Fire at Keaton's Bar & Grill'' (Six Degrees, 2000) * ''Sotto Voce'' (AUM Fidelity, 2006) * ''Subway Moon'' (Yellowbird, 2009) * ''Nearness and You'' (Clean Feed, 2016) * ''Complicated Day'' (Yellowbird/Enja, 2014) With

& Nick Hakim * ''Small Things'' (NYXO, 2021) With

Marc Ribot Marc Ribot (; born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer. His work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, Rock music, rock, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notab ...

*'' YRU Still Here?'' (Northern Spy, 2018) * '' Rootless Cosmopolitans'' (Island, 1990) * '' Shoe String Symphonettes'' (Tzadik, 1997) With

Elliott Sharp Elliott Sharp (born March 1, 1951) is an American contemporary classical music, contemporary classical composer, multi-instrumentalist, performer, author, and visual artist. A central figure in the Avant-garde music, avant-garde and experimenta ...

* ''Forgery'' (Intuition, 2007) * ''Spectropia Suite'' (NEOS, 2010) * ''Sky Road Songs'' (Yellowbird, 2012) With others *

Horace Andy Horace Andy (born Horace Keith Hinds, 19 February 1951) is a Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer, known for his distinctive vocals and hit songs such as " Skylarking", as well as "Government Land", "Angel", "Spying Glass", and "Five Ma ...

, ''Fresh'' (Island in the Sun 1987) * Eszter Balint, ''Flicker'' (Scratchie, 1998) * Samm Bennett, ''The Big Off'' (Factory Outlet 1993) * Steven Bernstein, ''MTO Plays Sly'' (Royal Potato Family 2011) * Brass Construction, '' Brass Construction II'' (United Artists, 1976) * Henry Butler, ''Viper's Drag'' (Impulse!, 2014) * Thomas Chapin, ''Insomnia'' (Knitting Factory, 1993) *

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

'' The Sweetest Punch'' (Decca, 1999) * Elvis Costello, '' When I Was Cruel'' (Island, 2002) *

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is noted for her Optimism, optimistic and Idealism, idealistic subject matter, and incorporation of genres including Rock music, rock, Po ...

, ''

'' (A&M 1996) *

Will Downing Wilfred "Will" Downing (born November 29, 1963) is an American R&B, soul, neo soul, and jazz singer and songwriter. He has released 22 studio albums. Biography Early life Downing was born and raised to a working-class family in Bedford-Stuy ...

, ''Moods'' (Mercury 1995) * Marty Ehrlich, ''A Trumpet in the Morning'' (New World, 2013) * Oran Etkin, ''Wake Up Clarinet!'' (Timbalooloo 2010) * Oran Etkin, ''Gathering Light'' (Motema, 2014) *

, '' Not in Our Name'' (Verve, 2005) * Charlie Haden, '' Time/Life'' (Impulse!, 2016) * Gunter Hampel, ''Fresh Heat: Live at Sweet Basil'' (Birth, 1985) * Joel Harrison, ''Infinite Possibility'' (Sunnyside, 2013) *

Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for The Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Hel ...

, ''It's Showtime'' (Vanguard, 2014) * Paul Hemmings, ''The Blues and the Abstract'' (Uke Leading Tone 2015) * Colm Mac Con Iomaire, ''And Now the Weather'' (Plateau, 2015) * Iron and Wine, ''

Ghost on Ghost ''Ghost on Ghost'' is the fifth full-length studio album by Iron & Wine, released April 16, 2013 via 4AD (worldwide) and Nonesuch in the US. The album's title is taken from the lyrics of "Grace for Saints and Ramblers" and the cover is taken fr ...

'' (Nonesuch, 2013) * Freedy Johnston, '' Blue Days Black Nights'' (Elektra, 1999) * Brad Jones, ''Uncivilized Poise'' (Knitting Factory, 1999) * King Short Shirt, ''Press On'' (A&B, 1979) * Billy Martin, ''Heels Over Head'' (Amulet, 2013) *

Cibo Matto Cibo Matto (, Italian language, Italian for "crazy food") was an American alternative rock band formed by Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori in New York City in 1994. Their first album, ''Viva! La Woman'' (1996), had lyrics primarily concerned with food. ...

, ''

Super Relax ''Super Relax'' is an EP by Cibo Matto released in 1997. Four of the nine tracks are versions of the song "Sugar Water" from the group's debut album, ''Viva! La Woman'', and "Spoon" would later appear (in a reworked version) on ''Stereo Type A'' ...

'' (Warner Bros., 1997) * Bobby Previte, ''Counterclockwise'' (Palmetto, 2003) * Jeb Loy Nichols, ''As the Rain'' (Capitol, 1997) * Jeb Loy Nichols, '' Lovers Knot'' (Capitol, 1997) *

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...

, ''

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

'' (Lumiere, 2008) * Lou Reed, '' Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse'' (Matador/Sister Ray 2008) *

Max Romeo Maxwell Livingston Smith (22 November 1944 – 11 April 2025), known professionally as Max Romeo, was a Jamaican reggae and roots reggae recording musician who achieved chart success in his home country and in the United Kingdom. He had several ...

, ''Freedom Street'' (Island in the Sun 1984) *

Harry Shearer Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, musician, radio host, writer, and producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member of The ...

, ''It Must Have Been Something I Said'' (Rhino, 1994) *

Andy Summers Andrew James Summers (born 31 December 1942) is an English guitarist best known as a member of the rock band the Police. Prior to joining the Police, Summers had been a member of several bands during the 1960s, including Zoot Money's Big Roll ...

, ''Peggy's Blue Skylight'' (BMG, 2000) * Henry Threadgill, '' Spirit of Nuff...Nuff'' (Black Saint, 1991) * Kazutoki Umezu, ''Eclecticism'' (Knitting Factory, 1993) * Dan Zanes, ''Catch That Train'' (Festival Five, 2006) *

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conducting, conductor, saxophonist, arrangement, arranger and record producer, producer who "deliberately resists category". His Avant-garde music, avant-garde and experimental music, ex ...

, '' John Zorn's Cobra: Live at the Knitting Factory'' (Knitting Factory, 1995)

References

External links

Curtis Fowlkes biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowlkes, Curtis 1950 births 2023 deaths American jazz trombonists American male trombonists 21st-century American trombonists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians The Lounge Lizards members The Jazz Passengers members Groove Collective members Musicians from New York City