Curtis Fuller Brasstet live at Jazzfest Berlin 2009

Photo © by Detlev Schilke

Curtis Fuller · trombone
Don Sickler · trumpet
Jim Rotondi · trumpet
Sharp Radway · piano
Corcoran Holt · bass
McClenty Hunter · drums

recorded live at Georg-Neumann-Saal, Jazz Institute Berlin, November 7, 2009

1. The Clan (Curtis Fuller)

2. Minor's Holiday (Kenny Dorham)
3. The Court (Curtis Fuller)

The most recorded jazz trombonist of his lifetime, Curtis Fuller's illustrious career spans six decades and includes tenures with many of the greatest names in this music. Born Dec. 15th, 1934 in Detroit, Fuller was orphaned at an early age, but found family in the close-knit jazz community of the musically fertile Motor City. He first picked up the trombone in the school band at Cass Tech High School, where his fellow students included Donald Byrd and Paul Chambers and the list of graduates reads like a Who's Who of jazz.
He plays the slide trombone with astonishing virtuosity, boasting a huge, rounded tone and a punchy, lightning-quick attack that recalls the legendary J.J.Johnson. Fuller's prodigious technique led many jazz greats, such as John Coltrane, to enlist him as a sideman (he appeared on Trane's classic 1957 album Blue Train and many other Blue Note recordings) and got signed by Alfred Lion.
One of his recent recordings called "keep it simple" was released 2005 on Savant.