Curtis Amy

American jazz saxophonist

Curtis Amy
Born	(1929-10-11)October 11, 1929 Houston, Texas, U.S.
Died	June 5, 2002(2002-06-05) (aged 72) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Saxophone
Years active	1950s–1970s
Labels	Pacific Jazz

Musical artist

Curtis Amy (October 11, 1929 – June 5, 2002) was an American jazz saxophonist.^[1]

Biography

Amy was born in Houston, Texas, United States.^[2] He learned how to play clarinet before joining the Army, and during his time in service, picked up the tenor saxophone.^[2] After his discharge, he attended and graduated from Kentucky State College.^[2] He worked as an educator in Tennessee while playing in midwestern jazz clubs.^[2] In the mid-1950s, he relocated to Los Angeles and later signed with Pacific Jazz Records, often playing with organist Paul Bryant. In the mid-1960s, he spent three years as musical director of Ray Charles' orchestra, together with his wife, Merry Clayton, and Steve Huffsteter.^[3]

As well as leading his own bands and recording albums under his own name, Amy did session work and played the solos on several recordings, including The Doors song "Touch Me", Carole King's Tapestry, and Lou Rawls' first albums, Black and Blue and Tobacco Road, coinciding with Dexter Gordon in the Onzy Matthews big band,^[2]^[3] as well as working with Marvin Gaye, Tammi Terrell and Smokey Robinson.^[3]

Up until his death, he was married to singer and recording artist Merry Clayton.^[3] Their son, Kevin Amy has also pursued a musical career.^[4]

Discography

As leader

The Blues Message (Pacific Jazz, 1960)
Meetin' Here (Pacific Jazz, 1961)
Groovin' Blue (Pacific Jazz, 1961)
Tippin' on Through (Pacific Jazz, 1962)
Way Down (Pacific Jazz, 1962)
Katanga! (Pacific Jazz, 1963)^[3]
The Sounds of Broadway/The Sounds of Hollywood (Palomar, 1965)
Mustang (Verve, 1966)
Jungle Adventure in Music and Sound (Coliseum, 1966)
Peace For Love (Fresh Sounds 1994)

As sideman

With The Doors

The Soft Parade (Elektra, 1969)

With Dizzy Gillespie

Jazz Recital (Norgran, 1956)

With Carole King

Tapestry (Ode, 1971)

With Lou Rawls

Black and Blue (Capitol, 1963)
Tobacco Road (Capitol, 1963)

With Gerald Wilson

On Stage (Pacific Jazz, 1965)
Feelin' Kinda Blues (Pacific Jazz, 1965)

References

^ Cook, Richard (2005). Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia. London: Penguin Books. p. 13. ISBN 0-141-00646-3.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 80. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Amy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
^ "Merry Clayton, co-star of Oscar-winning '20 Feet from Stardom,' soars on 'Beautiful Scars' after grisly crash". San Diego Union-Tribune. 2021-04-04. Retrieved 2021-09-24.