Curtis Fuller-Cabin in the Sky

[jazzkrow]

In Ashley Kahn's book on Impulse Records, there is a 2 page mention of Curtis Fuller's "Cabin in the Sky" LP-apparently there was a major cost over run due to the String section session fees and Fuller was dropped from the Impulse roster soon after the LPs issue

I'm sure some of our Board members have the LP? Impressions?

Was the LP ever re-issued on CD?

[marcello]

I don't have it but...

Curtis Fuller

Cabin In The Sky

Impulse A-22

April 24, 25, 1962

Al DeRisi, Bernie Glow, Freddie Hubbard, Ernie Royal (tp) Wayne Andre, Curtis Fuller, Kai Winding (tb) Alan Raph (btb) Bob Brookmeyer (vtb) Ray Alonge, Jim Buffington, Anthony Miranda, Morris Secon (frh) Harvey Phillips (tu) Eddie Costa (vib, p, per) Hank Jones (p) Barry Galbraith (g) Art Davis (b) Osie Johnson (d) Manny Albam (arr, cond)

Side One

1. The Prayer - Taking a Chance on Love

2. Cabin in the Sky

3. Old Ship of Zion

4. Do What You Wanna Do

5. Honey in the Honeycomb

Side Two

1. Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe

2. Savannah

3. Love Turned the Light Out

4. In My Old Virginia Home (On the River Nile)

5. Love Me Tomorrow (But Leave Me Alone Today) - The Prayer

[Swinging Swede]

It has had a CD reissue: MVCJ-19145.

[jazzkrow]

not much available online-e-bay, Amazon, half.com, etc.

One copy CD@$68

I've heard little mention of this session on our Board-sidemen above certainly are impressive....

[Stereojack]

I had the LP many years ago - didn't think it was worth keeping. Nothing special really happens on this session.

[Steve Gray]

I have the Japanese CD issue.

I had been looking for the cover art for this to add to iTunes and hadn't been able to find it so a big thank you for supplying it. :-)

[JSngry]

Nothing special really happens on this session.

I feel much the same way about Fuller's other Impulse! date, Soul Trombone. Not bad, but could/should have been a lot better, imo.

[J.A.W.]

It has had a CD reissue: MVCJ-19145.

That's the 20-bit K2 remastered Japanese reissue from the 1990s. It has never been reissued on CD in the United States.

[J.A.W.]

Nothing special really happens on this session.

I feel much the same way about Fuller's other Impulse! date, Soul Trombone. Not bad, but could/should have been a lot better, imo.

In my opinion Soul Trombone is a better date than Cabin in the Sky, but it's still mediocre.

Edited January 18, 2009 by J.A.W.

[JSngry]

Yep.

And that's a drag too, considering the lineup, although maybe it's somewhat a case of "band minus bandleader" "slacking off". Maybe a different drummer would have upped the ante.

Oh well. Just goes to show you that there are no guarantees...

[Shrdlu]

I finally got the LP off of eBay a couple of years ago. It was very hard to track down a copy. And yes, it hasn't been out on CD apart from that Japanese version, which is also a swine to find.

I like it and the other Impulse album (for which I did find the Jap version, which is one of those delightful LP facsimile jobs). But Curtis's Savoy and BN sessions (and his appearances with Blakey) are far superior.

[Dave James]

I found this CD several years ago on one of my hockey junkets to Vancouver, B.C. The Virgin Megastore up there used to have a pretty decent selection of Japanese CD's. This is one of probably 20 or so I picked up from them over the course of several years. I haven't listened to it for some time, but my initial reaction was nice but not necessary. Agree that with the players involved it should have / could have been much better.

Up over and out.

[Duvivierlover1960]

This Curtis Fuller lp has indeed been released on Japanese cd and I do have a copy of it, good but not great is the best way to describe and they did indeed drop Fuller from the label after this effort, this one is for collectors only not connoisseurs. he does have another Impulse date with he great Jymie Merritt and Freddie Hubbard and the effort is much better on that one.

[Hot Ptah]

What do musicians think of Curtis Fuller generally? I had never seen him live until about 10 years ago. Now I have seen him live three times in the past 10 years. He has been an underwhelming soloist each time, to my untrained ears. What am I missing?

[JSngry]

I think his chops have been shot for a while now. In his day, good player, sometimes better - or much better - than good. Definitely deserving of the name & the reputation. but between age and...things...I don't know what he has left physically.

[Free For All]

What do musicians think of Curtis Fuller generally? I had never seen him live until about 10 years ago. Now I have seen him live three times in the past 10 years. He has been an underwhelming soloist each time, to my untrained ears. What am I missing?

I think he still has a good sound, but as he has gotten older his agility and flexibility has decreased. I think in general trombone players often can play into their mature years with more success than trumpet players (the larger trombone mouthpiece is more forgiving than the trumpet mouthpiece), but nearly all brass players have increasing problems with chops as they get older.

I prefer Curtis in his prime years, but what you need to keep in mind that this is a trombonist (the only trombonist) who recorded w/Bud Powell and Coltrane. He is a legend on the instrument and continuing to play is probably what keeps him going- I think if he quit playing he wouldn't be around for long. For that reason I'm willing to forgive that he's showing his age. There's a soulfulness that comes with age that one doesn't get without putting in the time.

Edited February 23, 2009 by Free For All

[jlhoots]

I think his chops have been shot for a while now. In his day, good player, sometimes better - or much better - than good. Definitely deserving of the name & the reputation. but between age and...things...I don't know what he has left physically.

Sort of like Moncur I guess.

[JSngry]

I think he still has a good sound...

...and well he might, but did you hear that Delmark side he did with, I think Brad Goode & co. a few years ago. Maybe it was my imagination, but it seemed that whenever Fuller stepped up to play that the sound suddenly got swarthed w/massive reverb and a different EQ. The "real" sound inside all that seemed really small & feeble to me. It really made me sad....

I know that sounds disrespectful, and damn, I don't mean it too. Fuller's long been one of my favorites, often my most favorite in that post-JJ "hard bop" context. And like I said, much love for fuller here, no matter what the ravages of time have (or haven't) been. I only make these comments in the context of HP's sense of disappointment after seeing him live over the last few years.

Tell you what, HP, besides all the great work he did w/Blakey, see if you can find an old Bob Brookmeyer Emarcy side called Jazz Is A Kick. Half of it is by a two trombone frontline of Brookmeyer & Fuller, with a rhythm section of Wynton Kelley, Paul Chambers, & Paul Motian(!). There's a long jam on there by that quintet called "Cooperation" where Brookmeyer & Fuller go back and forth and DAMN is it good. Alos, his two Mainstream sides, although not wholly successful from a "production" standpoint, show him progressing into the modal/post-modal bag in a more than causal way.

All I'm saying is that even if he was totally shot today (and I don't think he is), this is a guy who's definitely been there and definitely done that.

[Free For All]

So if his chops are shot, should he stop playing? I used to think so. I heard Dizzy struggling late in his life, I heard Freddie when he was not doing well. Clark has had his ups and downs lately. JJ was starting to fade a bit. It was tough to hear. I used to think "why don't these guys retire?" but I have come to realize that retiring is like giving up, and these guys are doing what they love to do. I think it keeps them going. Yes, it is hard to hear these lions struggling, and some may not want to listen. Sometimes it's hard for me to listen, but these guys have built up some "respect equity" and I'll continue to be sincerely supportive.

I think if you're going to pay money to hear some of these guys, you need to be prepared that maybe it won't be what you want it to be. I know some folks here have said that these guys should just quit already, that we need to move on (like some comments about the recent Hank/Moody side). I think brass players show their age a little sooner than reed and rhythm players, but they all still deserve our respect IMHO.

[Chuck Nessa]

As Jim said once about Mr Rollins, it's Curtis friggin' Fuller.

[Stereojack]

In the late 1970's, Buck Clayton played a gig in Boston with Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson. I'd seen Vinson several times, but had never seen the great Buck Clayton. I knew that he had given up playing a few years earlier, on doctor's orders I believe, but I was hoping for the best. Well, he really had nothing left, played rather poorly, and it was kind of embarassing. At the end of one set, Buck got a lengthy ovation from the crowd, and I remember a woman at the table next to us asking, "Why are they applauding? He's terrible!". All I could say was that my applause was not for his performance that night, but for the decades of great music that he had given us in the past, and coming out and supporting him was the only way I could show that appreciation. I'm sure that many in the audience that night felt the same way.

Curtis Fuller is another case in point. Yes, he doesn't have much left, but maybe he needs the work. He was an important voice on the scene in the late 50's and 60's, and played with some of my favorite bands - Art Blakey & the Jazztet. His recordings for Prestige, Blue Note, & Savoy are as good as it gets.

[cliffpeterson]

Fuller has only one lung!!!!

[ejp626]

Curtis Fuller is another case in point. Yes, he doesn't have much left, but maybe he needs the work. He was an important voice on the scene in the late 50's and 60's, and played with some of my favorite bands - Art Blakey & the Jazztet. His recordings for Prestige, Blue Note, & Savoy are as good as it gets.

It's a tough call, but the more of the old timers on the scene that can't really cut it, the fewer opportunities for the Young Lions (themselves long in the tooth) or true new-comers. Virtually everyone of the headliners at the Jazz Showcase could be drawing Social Security. For myself, I will usually go see a "senior" saxophone player (and indeed Benny Golson still plays very well), but I do draw the line at trumpet players. The decline is just too painful to watch. In many ways, I think jazz is mostly dead, trapped in amber since the fans won't let it progress beyond the 1950/60s. That's still what many of us prefer, even if we don't view ourselves as dogmatic as Mr. Marsalis for example.

[jazzbo]

Tell you what, HP, besides all the great work he did w/Blakey, see if you can find an old Bob Brookmeyer Emarcy side called Jazz Is A Kick. Half of it is by a two trombone frontline of Brookmeyer & Fuller, with a rhythm section of Wynton Kelley, Paul Chambers, & Paul Motian(!). There's a long jam on there by that quintet called "Cooperation" where Brookmeyer & Fuller go back and forth and DAMN is it good. Alos, his two Mainstream sides, although not wholly successful from a "production" standpoint, show him progressing into the modal/post-modal bag in a more than causal way.

Jazz is a Kick is available to download via the Verve Vault.

http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/artist/rele...11&aid=3020