Music
Curtis Fuller
1932–2021 · jazz trombonist, composer
Detroit-born hard-bop trombonist who played on John Coltrane's Blue Train and in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, and who died in his hometown in 2021.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 88- Birth name
- Curtis DuBois Fuller
- Detroit years
- 1932–1957; 2021
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Fuller was born in Detroit; his father, a Jamaican immigrant who worked in a Ford factory, died of tuberculosis before he was born, and after his mother's death he spent several years in a Jesuit-run orphanage. He attended public school in a remarkable generation of Detroit musicians that included Paul Chambers, Donald Byrd and Tommy Flanagan. After his Army service ended in 1955 he joined the quintet of fellow Detroiter Yusef Lateef, played the city's modern-jazz rooms such as the Blue Bird Inn, and in 1956 studied at Wayne State University, where he roomed with saxophonist Joe Henderson. The Lateef group moved to New York in 1957, and Fuller quickly became one of the busiest trombonists in hard bop, playing on Coltrane's Blue Train and leading his own Blue Note dates. From 1961 to 1965 he was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. He was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2007 and died in Detroit in 2021, aged 88.
Highlights
- Played trombone on John Coltrane's Blue Train (1957)
- Member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, 1961–1965
- Joined fellow Detroiter Yusef Lateef's quintet in 1955
- NEA Jazz Master (2007)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · 1950s
Blue Bird Inn
Closed
West-side bebop club where he is among the documented performers. The Detroit Sound Conservancy bought the building in 2018; it became a local historic district in 2020 and is being restored.
Studied here · 1956
Wayne State University
He studied here in 1956, rooming with saxophonist Joe Henderson.