It’s only been about 18 months since Ann Arbor native Caleb Curtis moved to New York City — but he’s already making inroads into New York City’s rich, deep community of jazz musicians.
Ann Arbor native-turned-New York jazz saxophonist Caleb Curtis plays Kerrytown Concert House Sunday.
Photo by Nico Curtis
“New York is definitely the place to be if you’re a jazz musician,” says Curtis, 24, an alto sax player who was born and raised in Ann Arbor, graduated from Community High School and earned a music degree from Michigan State University. “I love New York, because there are so many jazz clubs, and the musicians are really accessible.
“There’s a lot of young musicians in New York who are doing the same thing I am — trying to develop our music, meeting other musicians, play with other musicians as much as possible, and further developing the jazz community here,” says Curtis during a phone interview from his New York digs.
Although Curtis is becoming immersed in the NY scene, he still makes it “back home” for a couple of gigs a year. His quartet performs Sunday afternoon at the Kerrytown Concert House.
And Curtis is also continuing to add to his musical pedigree. In addition to doing live gigs and lending his sax sound to the recordings of other artists, he’s also starting his second year of grad school. He’s earning a master’s degree in music at William Patterson University in New Jersey.
Curtis plans to release his debut CD next summer, but he provided me with a promotional CD that’s a mix of studio tracks and live performances. The tracks demonstrate his rich tone; his fluid, supple lines and his eloquent phrasing. In fact, the great jazz pianist Mulgrew Miller has been quoted as saying that “Caleb has a wonderful, singing, projecting sound. To me, that’s the ultimate for a horn player.”
PREVIEW
- Who: Quartet led by young alto-sax player and Ann Arbor native who’s now becoming immersed in the New York jazz scene.
- What: Curtis delivers a rich tone; fluid, supple lines and eloquent phrasing. And, as a composer, he’s heavily influenced by Thelonious Monk and Wayne Shorter.
- Where: Kerrytown Concert House, 415 North 4th Avenue.
- When: 4 p.m. Sunday.
- How much: $10-$25; $5 for students.
- Details: 734-769-2999, kch@kerrytown.com, KCH website.
Curtis’ primary influences, as far as his composing, are two of the giants — Thelonious Monk and Wayne Shorter.
“I’ve studied Monk’s music a lot, and he had this way of writing simple melodies in unusual fashions, which made it interesting, or quirky. He could write something that was humorous and serious at the same time.”
As far as Shorter’s influence, Curtis says that “he has a way of connecting the melody and the harmony so that they seem inseparable — you can’t imagine one without the other. He writes in a way that the harmony really serves the song. His music is visual, in a way.”
As a saxman, Curtis also cites Shorter as an influence on his playing, but he’s steeped in the work of other blowers as well — legends like Johnny Hodges, Charlie Parker, Eric Dolphy and Cannonball Adderley, as well as some contemporary players like Kenny Garrett.
“I think what they all have in common is that their playing sounds like a natural, organic creation,” says Curtis admiringly. “You can hear their personality in their music. The way they approach the also sax is unique to them — which makes their sound very identifiable and personal.” Listen to "The Castle," an original composition by Caleb Curtis (MP3).
In keeping with his desire to play and interact with as many musicians as he can, Curtis performs in various incarnations when he plays gigs in NYC clubs or does a recording session for another artist — he plays with a trio, a quartet and a quintet.
“Each has their own pleasures, and each has their own challenges,” says Curtis. “I love playing with a quintet, because I like hearing my compositions being played by an ensemble with two horn players — I like hearing the harmonies I have written. But a quintet is harder to take on the road, with that many musicians.
“Meanwhile, a quartet gives you a little more space to work with, and more flexibility. And a trio gives you even more flexibility, and it also gives you a chance to see what you can do with what you have — just the three players.
The Caleb Curtis Quartet that will be playing Kerrytown includes pianist Chris Pattishall, bassist Marcos Varela and drummer Clif Wallace. Curtis met all three in New York.
“A lot of times when I come home, I play with friends from Michigan,” says Curtis. “But now I also want people back home to hear the kind of music I make with the guys from the New York scene.”
As a composer, Curtis describes his style / approach thusly: “I think I tend to write short melodies, relatively speaking. I tend to not write angular, difficult melodies. I like writing simple melodies because that allows me to add more inflections when I’m playing them — I’m not locked in as much as I would be if I wrote a difficult melody.
“And I write the body first, and then work on the rest of the song later. If the melody isn’t strong, the rest of it won’t work. But the more I write, the more I am discovering what my ‘signature’ sound is.”
Curtis’s promotional CD includes two of his own compositions, plus his interpretations of pieces written by other composers, like Monk’s “Light Blue,” Billy Strayhorn’s “Isfahan” and Sonny Rollins’ “Pent-Up House.”
But when he records his “official” debut CD, Curtis plans on doing mostly his own compositions, “and maybe one or two covers that speak to me, like the Strayhorn and Monk pieces do. I would be very surprised if I did my own record and didn’t include any Monk.”
Kevin Ransom is a free-lance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at KevinRansom10@aol.com.
Watch Kerrytown Concert House's video promoting the Caleb Curtis concert:
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