Curtis Reginald Lewis (August 29, 1918 – May 23, 1969), American composer of popular songs, many of which have become jazz standards. He was born in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, grew up in Chicago, and came to New York City in the 1940s. Lewis subsequently became one of the first black composers and lyricists to own a music publishing company on Broadway in the early 1950s. He died in Kew Gardens, New York. Having served in the United States Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(from August 22, 1942, discharged as a Staff Sergeant December 2, 1945), his body was interred at the

Long Island National Cemetery Long Island National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in Suffolk County, New York. It is surrounded by a group of other separate cemeteries and memorial parks situated along Wellwood Avenue (County Road 3) – these include P ...

, Farmingdale, NY.

Selected compositions

*"All Night Long" ::

Shirley Horn Shirley Valerie Horn (May 1, 1934 – October 20, 2005) was an American jazz singer and pianist. She collaborated with many jazz musicians including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Carmen McRae, Wynton Marsalis and oth ...

; Album: ''All Night Long'' (1981) ::

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

George Shearing Sir George Albert Shearing (13 August 191914 February 2011) was a British jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM Records and Capitol Records. Shearing was the composer of over 300 so ...

Quintet with Nancy Wilson; Album: ''The Swingin's Mutual!'' ::

Freddie Roach Frederick Steven Roach (born March 5, 1960) is an American boxing trainer and former professional boxer. Roach is widely regarded as one of the best boxing trainers of all time. He is the enduring boxing coach of the eight-division world champio ...

; Album: ''Brown Sugar'' ::

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

; Album: ''Sweet Bitter Love'' ::

Sonny Criss William "Sonny" Criss (23 October 1927 – 19 November 1977) was an American jazz musician. An Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist of prominence during the bebop era of jazz, he was one of many players influenced by Charlie Parker. Biography ...

; Album: ''

Crisscraft ''Crisscraft'' is a 1975 album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Criss, originally released on the Muse label, and later reissued on 32 Jazz.

'' (Muse, 1975) ::Sandy Graham; Album: ''Sandy Graham'' ::

Elkie Brooks Elkie Brooks (born Elaine Bookbinder; 25 February 1945) is an English Rock music, rock, blues and jazz singer. She was a vocalist with the bands Dada and Vinegar Joe (band), Vinegar Joe, and later became a solo artist. She gained her biggest su ...

; Album: ''No More the Fool: The Collection'' ::Rolf Delfos, Marijn Wijnands; Album: ''Complete Boulevard of Broken Dreams'' ::Beverley Staunton, Album: ''Here's to You'' ::

Mary Stallings Mary Stallings (born August 16, 1939) is an American jazz vocalist and mother of soul singer Adriana Evans. Biography One of eleven children, Mary Stallings was born in San Francisco, California. She grew up in the neighborhood of Laurel Heig ...

; Album: ''Live at the Village Vanguard'' ::

; Album: ''San Francisco Jazz Festival'' ::

Dylan Cramer Dylan Cramer (born January 21, 1958, in North Vancouver, British Columbia), is a Canadian alto saxophonist, jazz musician and author. Career Cramer took up the saxophone at age 13, after the sudden death of his father. Four years later in 1975, Cr ...

; Album: ''All Night Long'' (2001) :: Nancy Wilson; Album: ''Lady Sings the Blues'' ::

Joe Sample Joseph Leslie Sample (February 1, 1939 – September 12, 2014) was an American jazz keyboardist and composer. He was one of the founding members of The Jazz Crusaders in 1960, whose name was shortened to "The Crusaders" in 1971. He remained a p ...

Randy Crawford Veronica "Randy" Crawford (born February 18, 1952) is an American retired jazz and R&B singer. She has been more successful in Europe than in the United States, where she has not entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 as a solo artist. However, sh ...

; Album: ''Feeling Good'' ::

Diana Krall Diana Jean Krall (born November 16, 1964) is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide, including over six million in the US. On December 11, 2009, ''Billboard (magazi ...

; Album: ''

Only Trust Your Heart ''Only Trust Your Heart'' is the second studio album by Canadian singer and pianist Diana Krall, released on February 14, 1995, by GRP Records. Track listing Personnel Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Only Trust Your Heart''. Musici ...

'' (1995) *"All Soul" *"Blue City" ::

; Album: ''Embers And Ashes'' (1960) *"Fortune Teller, Marion Keene" (1955) *"Garden of the Blues Suite, The" *"Great City, The" *"He Never Mentioned Love" ::

; Album: ''Embers And Ashes'' (1960) :: Claire Martin; Album: ''He Never Mentioned Love'' (2007) ::

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (, March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "List of nicknames of jazz musicians, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

; Album: ''The Complete Sarah Vaughan On Mercury Vol. 4 - 1963–1967'' *"He’s Gone Again" *"Now or Never" —

(music), Curtis R. Lewis (words) *"Old Country" *"Roaming Lover" *" Today I Sing the Blues" *"What Would a Woman Do?" *"You Oughta Be Mine"

Selected albums

'' The Garden of the Blues''

sings Curtis Lewis
Steeple Chase Records

Film and TV

*'' Blown Away'' (1994): song, ''All Night Long''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Curtis Reginald 1918 births 1987 deaths Songwriters from Texas African-American songwriters 20th-century African-American musicians 20th-century American songwriters