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Legends of Jazz
David 'Fathead' Newman and Curtis Fuller

David "Fathead" Newman
The story begins way back in the very early 50’s down in the deep south of Texas.  David Newman was playing with bands doing one nighters and dances throughout Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and sometimes California. On one of those tours, David met Ray Charles. Ray was working as a sideman with another group on the night's roster. They immediately bonded, both musically and as friends. When Ray started his own band, he called on David to be part of his group. In 1954, David began a twelve year association with the Ray Charles Band.

David began as the baritone player and soon became the star tenor soloist. In 1959, David recorded his first album as a leader, "Ray Charles Introduces David Newman: "FATHEAD" on Atlantic records. It included Newman's dramatic and now famous rendition of "Hard Times.  Shortly thereafter, Newman moved to New York City where his career took off in many directions.

In addition to extensive touring with Ray Charles throughout most of the 60’s, Newman lead his own groups and recorded extensively for the Atlantic, Warner Brothers and Prestige labels.  He played with many of the great jazz musicians of the day including Lee Morgan, Kenny Drew Sr., Billy Higgins, Kenny Dorham.  And as a studio musician, Newman became very busy working on numerous recording projects with the likes of Herbie Mann, Aretha Franklin, Hank Crawford, and Aaron Neville, just to name a few. 

The late nineties has brought David to the High Note label where he has recorded six successful CDs. The most recent "Cityscape" was released in January, 2006 and spent 18 weeks on the Jazz Radio charts, 10 weeks in the Top 10.

David Newman has appeared on many television shows including Saturday Night Live, David Sanborn's Night Music, David Letterman and appeared in Robert Altman's film "Kansas City".  In the fall of 2004, the long awaited film “Ray”, the life story of Ray Charles,  was released with actor Bokeem Woodbine portraying the part of David “Fathead” Newman. 


Curtis Fuller
“As an American musician, performer, writer, and veteran of the Armed Services, it is the honor and privilege of a lifetime to receive the NEA Jazz Masters Award. My professional career began as a member of the United States Army Band. It is both humbling and fulfilling to be recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts.” – Curtis Fuller

A remarkably fluent trombonist, whose impeccable sense of time and ambitious solos made him a mainstay of the hard-bop scene, Curtis Fuller was born in Detroit, where he began his music studies in high school. A stint in an Army band (where he played with Cannonball Adderley) helped him mature into a professional with virtuoso skills.

After working in Detroit with Kenny Burrell™ and Yusef Lateef, he moved to New York, where he made his recording debut as a leader on Transition in 1955. He also became a strong presence on the Blue Note label, working with Clifford Jordan, John Coltrane (the classic Blue Train) and his own The Opener (with Hank Mobley). Always in demand—he also played on late-1950s sessions for Prestige, United Artists, and Savoy—Fuller is the only trombonist to have recorded with Coltrane, Bud Powell, and Jimmy Smith.

In 1959, he became a founding member of The Jazztet with Benny Golson and Art Farmer, then joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1961. For the next four years, working in a front line with Wayne Shorter and Freddie Hubbard, Fuller helped make this edition of the Messengers one of the defining bands of the hard-bop era. In 1968, Fuller toured Europe with Dizzy Gillespie’s big band.

Fuller toured with the Count Basie™ Band from 1975 to 1977; co-led the quintet Giant Bones with Kai Winding in 1979 and 1980; and played with Art Blakey, Cedar Walton, and Benny Golson in the late 1970s and early ’80s.

In more recent years, Curtis Fuller has become known nationally and internationally as a master clinician in jazz studies programs, having worked with students and young professionals at institutions including Skidmore, Harvard, Stanford, the University of Pittsburgh, Duke, the New England Conservatory of Music, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He holds an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music.

Downloads

David "Fathead" Newman
> David Newman Short Bio (pdf)
> David Newman Long Bio (pdf)
> David Newman Discography (pdf)
> Review of "Cityscape" in All Music Guide (2006) (doc)
> "Ray Charles: Genius & Soul – The 50th Anniversary Collection" excerps from Liner Notes (Rhombus 1997) (doc)
> Radio Charts Top 100 2005 (pdf)

Curtis Fuller
> Curtis Fuller Bio (pdf)



"Goldfinger" from David 'Fathead' Newman's "Cityscape" (HighNote 2006) (mp3)

"Pharoah's Gold" from David 'Fathead' Newman's "Cityscape" (HighNote 2006) (mp3)