Jazz Cafe and Music Hall kicks off the 2010-2011 season with a Detroit legend, trombonist Curtis Fuller and his Quintet, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 17-18 in the Jazz Cafe season opener. There will be two sets per night at 8 and 10 p.m. Born in Detroit in 1934, Fuller is best known as a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and a sideman to many classic jazz recordings including John Coltrane’s Blue Train as well as albums for Bud Powell and Jimmy Smith. In a career that spans six decades, the names on Fullers resume pretty much sum up the giants of modern jazz, including stints with Nate and Cannonball Adderly, Miles Davis, Yusef Lateef, Wayne Shorter, Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie. Orphaned at an early age, the Cass Tech and Wayne State student picked up the trombone in high school and became a part of the seminal Detroit Jazz scene of the mid-’50s which included Donald Byrd, Paul Chambers from Cass as well as Tommy Flanagan, Milt Jackson and Thad Jones who all went on to historic careers themselves. For the Jazz Cafe dates, Fuller will fill out the quintet with, Sharp Radway, (piano) Howard Franklin, (drums) Eric Wheeler, (bass) and Pharez Whitted (trumpet). Curtis Fuller is a faculty member of the New York State Summer School of the Arts (NYSSSA) School of Jazz Studies (SJS) Tickets are $30 in advance of show at Music Hall Box Office or contact
. The Jazz Cafe is at 350 Madison in Detroit. Call 313-887-8500 or visit
or
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