Monday, July 27, 2009

"C" is for CURSON - Ted Curson


OK, this'll sound like a broken record but it has to be said: why the hell didn't Ted Curson become a star in the jazz world? He was the go-to trumpet player for Mingus for many years. He played for Cecil Taylor. And Gil Evans. And Eric Dolphy... But then his musical comrade in arms, Bill Barron suffered the same fate. Both were outstanding players who were ahead of their time from the git go (why else would Mingus and Taylor enlist them?). I suspect they were deemed members of the avant-garde by the music world when they really weren't. Curson became disillusioned with the American music scene and moved to Europe, eventually settling in Denmark. He returned to the U.S. in 1976.

Curson's music was heavily soaked by the blues. He possesses a big, fat tone (think Lee Morgan in his prime). Simply put: I love his music.

The playlist spans a fair portion of is career - 1962 - 1999 and looks like this:

1. Ted's Tempo (The New Thing and the Blue Thing, 1965)
2. Fire Down Below (Fire Down Below, 1962)
3. Tears For Dolphy (Tears For Dolphy, 1964)
4. Typical Ted (Cattin' Curson, 1973)
5. Milestones (Sugar 'N Spice, 1999)
6. Blue Piccolo (Ted Curson & Co., 1976)
7. Blast Off - Bill Barron (Modern Windows Suite, 1961)

The albums from which the selections were taken are:































Enjoy!

8 comments:

  1. Great playlist! I didn't know about Curson. Thanks so much. I enjoyed especially "Typical Ted" and "Milestones".
    I wonder if you can post Cattin' album. Or give me a link where can I download it or something.

    Have a nice day

    ReplyDelete
  2. By the way, I got a couple of album links of Curson if you are interested. Just let me know

    This is my list:

    Featuring Eric Dolphy(1961)MP3
    Plenty Of Horns (1961)FLAC
    Plays Fire Down Below (1962)FLAC
    Tears For Dolphy (1964)FLAC
    Bill Barron & Ted Curson - Now, Hear This (1964)FLAC
    Urge (1966)MP3

    ReplyDelete
  3. hello,

    is it possible to post the entire Cattin' Curson album?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Would like a link to Urge LP (too bad not in FLAC).He just played in NYC in Sept wish I had gone.Saw him a about a dozen years ago in upstate NY with Jimmy Cobb and he was great.
    Cheers
    Chazz

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mr. Chazz Send me a private message and I will send u the links for Urge. Sorry No FLACs, because I don't own the CD.
    Just wanted to let you know, and everyone interested, that I found these ones from Curson, that I will gladly share:

    1965 The New Thing and the Blue Thing (FLAC)
    1971 Pop Wine. (mp3@192 kbps)

    Mr. Sound and Fury give us some life signal,please.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sorry about that. Been busy dealing with a death in the family...

    I posted the CATTIN' a couple of days ago.

    ReplyDelete
  7. FLACS for Pop Wine & The New Thing & the Blue Thing can be found here:

    http://bloomysunday.blogspot.com/2008/12/contributions.html

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have found a link for the following recording:"Ted Curson featuring Eric Dolphy (1961)"
    http://rapidshare.com/files/217590289/Ted_Curson_-_Ted_Curson_Group_featuring_Eric_Dolphy_1961.rar

    ReplyDelete