Theodore Curson (June 3, 1935 – November 4, 2012) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

trumpeter.

Life and career

Curson was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. He became interested in playing trumpet after watching a newspaper salesman play a silver trumpet. Curson's father, however, wanted him to play alto saxophone like

Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as " the King of the Jukebox", he earned his high ...

. When he was ten, he gained his first trumpet. He attended Granoff School of Music in Philadelphia. (web version) At the suggestion of

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

, he moved to New York in 1956. He performed and recorded with

Cecil Taylor Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet. Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in complex ...

in the late 1950s and early 1960s. His composition "Tears for Dolphy" has been used in numerous films. He was featured in a profile on composer

Graham Collier James Graham Collier (21 February 1937 – 9 September 2011) was an English jazz bassist, bandleader and composer. Life and career Born in Tynemouth, Northumberland, England, on leaving school Collier joined the British Army as a musician, ...

in the 1985

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

documentary 'Hoarded Dreams' He was a familiar face in Finland, having performed at the Pori Jazz festival every year since it began in 1966. In 2007, he performed at Finland's Independence Day Ball at the invitation of president

Tarja Halonen Tarja Kaarina Halonen (; born 24 December 1943) is a Finnish politician who served as the 11th president of Finland, and the first woman to hold the position, from 2000 to 2012. She first rose to prominence as a lawyer with the Central Organisa ...

. A longtime resident of

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New Yor ...

,"The State of Jazz: Meet 40 More Jersey Greats"
''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to '' The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the ''Staten Island Advance'', all of w ...

'', September 28, 2003, backed up by the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music ...

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." Curson died from a heart attack in the township on November 4, 2012.

Discography

As leader

* '' Plenty of Horn'' (Old Town, 1961) * ''

Ted Curson Plays Fire Down Below ''Ted Curson Plays Fire Down Below'' is an album by American trumpeter Ted Curson which was recorded in 1962 and released on the Prestige label.

'' (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 ''Ode to Booker Ervin'' is an album by American trumpeter Ted Curson which was recorded in Helsinki and first released on the Finnish EMI Columbia label in 1970.

'' (Columbia, 1970) * '' Pop Wine'' (Futura, 1971) * ''

Cattin' Curson ''Cattin' Curson'' is a live album by American trumpeter Ted Curson which was recorded in Paris in 1973 and first released on the French Marge label and on Trident in the United States as ''(Typical Ted)''.Blue Piccolo ''Blue Piccolo'' is an album by American trumpeter Ted Curson which was recorded in 1976 and first released on the Japanese Whynot label and the on India Navigation in the US as ''Ted Curson & Co.''

'' (Whynot, 1976) * '' Jubilant Power'' (Inner City, 1976) * ''

Quicksand Quicksand is a colloid consisting of fine granular material (such as sand, silt or clay) and water. It forms in saturated loose sand when the sand is suddenly agitated. When water in the sand cannot escape, it creates a liquefied soil that los ...

'' (Atlantic, 1977) * '' Flip Top'' (Arista/Freedom, 1977) * ''Fireball'' (Trio, 1979) * ''

Blowin' Away ''Blowin' Away'' is the eighteenth studio album (and twentieth overall) by Joan Baez, released in 1977. It was her first after switching from A&M Records to Portrait Records (a then newly created division of CBS Records). Overview The album veer ...

'' with

Dizzy Reece Alphonso Son "Dizzy" Reece (born 5 January 1931) is a Jamaican-born hard bop jazz trumpeter. Reece is among a group of jazz musicians born in Jamaica which includes Bertie King, Joe Harriott, Roland Alphonso, Wilton Gaynair, Sonny Bradshaw, s ...

(Interplay, 1978) * ''

The Trio ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'' (Interplay, 1979) * ''

I Heard Mingus ''I Heard Mingus'' is an album by trumpeter Ted Curson which was recorded in 1980 and first released on the Interplay label.Snake Johnson ''Snake Johnson'' is an album by trumpeter Ted Curson which was recorded in 1980 and first released on the Chiaroscuro label.Bill Barron William Barron (26 October 1917 – 2 January 2006) was an English sportsman, who played football in the higher leagues before the Second World War and, along with some football, first-class cricket afterwards. Sporting career William Barron ...

* '' The Tenor Stylings of Bill Barron'' (Savoy, 1961) * '' Modern Windows'' (Savoy, 1962) * ''Now, Hear This!'' (Audio Fidelity, 1964) With

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians an ...

* '' Mingus'' (

Candid Candid may refer to: * Candid (app), a mobile app for anonymous discussions * Candid (organization), providing information on US nonprofit companies * Candid Records, a record label * Ilyushin Il-76, NATO reporting name ''Candid'', a Soviet aircraf ...

, 1961) * '' Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus'' (Candid, 1961) * '' Mingus Revisited'' (Limelight, 1965) * '' Mingus at Antibes'' (Atlantic, 1976) With

* '' Love for Sale'' (

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...

, 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 Park Frederick "Pepper" Adams III (October 8, 1930 – September 10, 1986) was an American jazz baritone saxophonist and composer. He composed 42 pieces, was the leader on eighteen albums spanning 28 years, and participated in 600 sessions as a si ...

, ''

California Cookin' ''California Cookin, is a live album by baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams which was recorded in California in 1983 and originally released on the Interplay label in 1991.

'' (Interplay, 1991) *

Ran Blake Ran Blake (born April 20, 1935) is an American pianist, composer, and educator. He is known for his unique style that combines blues, gospel, classical, and film noir influences into an innovative and dark jazz sound. His career spans over 40 rec ...

, ''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) *

, ''

Hoarded Dreams ''Hoarded Dreams'' is a live album by bassist/composer Graham Collier featuring a composition commissioned for the Bracknell Jazz Festival by the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1983 and released on the Cuneiform label in 2007. Reception All ...

'' (Cuneiform, 2007) *

Eric Dolphy Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist and flautist. On a few occasions, he also played the clarinet and piccolo. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to ...

, ''Candid, Dolphy'' (Candid, 1989) * Eric Dolphy, ''Outward Bound'' (Poll Winners, 2011) *

Gil Evans Ian Ernest Gilmore Evans ( né Green; May 13, 1912 – March 20, 1988) was a Canadian–American jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest orchestrators in jazz, playing an important role ...

, ''Into The Hot'' (Impulse!, 1962) * Andrew Hill, ''

Spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving farther away as it revolves around the point. Helices Two major definitions of "spiral" in the American Heritage Dictionary are:Karin Krog Karin Krog (born 15 May 1937) is a Norwegian jazz singer. Life and career Krog began singing jazz as a teenager and attracted attention while performing in jam sessions in Oslo. In 1955, she was hired by the pianist Kjell Karlsen to sing i ...

, ''Joy'' (Meantime, 2008) *

Teo Macero Attilio Joseph "Teo" Macero (October 30, 1925 – February 19, 2008) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and record producer. He was a producer at Columbia Records for twenty years. Macero produced Miles Davis' '' Bitches Brew'', and ...

, ''Impressions of Charles Mingus'' (Palo Alto, 1983) *

Misha Mengelberg Misha Mengelberg (5 June 1935 – 3 March 2017) was a Dutch jazz pianist and composer.Feather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira (2007) ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', p. 459. Oxford University Press. A prominent figure in post-WWII European Jazz ...

& Piet Noordijk, ''Journey'' (MCN, 2011) * Mark Murphy, ''Living Room'' (Muse, 1986) *

Sal Nistico Sal, SAL, or S.A.L. may refer to: Personal name * Sal (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname Places * Sal, Cape Verde, an island and municipality * Sal, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Ca ...

, ''

Neo/Nistico ''Neo/Nistico'' is an album by saxophonist Sal Nistico which was recorded in 1978 and released on the Bee Hive label.Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

, '' Fire Music'' (Impulse!, 1965) * Archie Shepp, ''Quartet'' (FreeFactory, 2009) * Andrzej Trzaskowski, '' Seant'' (1966)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Curson, Ted 1935 births 2012 deaths American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters Atlantic Records artists Bebop trumpeters Chiaroscuro Records artists Freedom Records artists Hard bop trumpeters India Navigation artists Mainstream jazz trumpeters American male jazz musicians Jazz musicians from New Jersey Musicians from Philadelphia Prestige Records artists People from Montclair, New Jersey Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania New York Contemporary Five members 20th-century trumpeters 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century trumpeters 21st-century American musicians 21st-century American male musicians