New York musician Caleb Curtis has shown himself to be an engaging and entertaining saxophonist and composer. His original compositions are informed by a wide swath of the jazz tradition, at times introspective, brash and melodic. Caleb grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan in a family that values creativity and happiness, encouraging artistic expression. He was given his first saxophone by his grandfather, an amateur saxophonist himself, when he was ten years old. During the following school year Caleb began playing saxophone despite the band director insisting he play trumpet instead. Now, legendary pianist Mulgrew Miller says “Caleb has a wonderful, singing, projecting sound. To me, that’s the ultimate for a horn player.”
He went on to study music at Michigan State University and William Paterson University, performing at many popular venues as well as at the Detroit International Jazz Festival and the Lansing Jazz Festival. He also led his band in radio performances in Michigan and New York including The Mitch Albom Show, The Barry Z Show, and Live from Blue Lake with Lazaro Vega. Since moving East, Caleb has performed at NYC clubs Iridium, Smoke, Cornelia Street Cafe, Small’s Jazz Club, The Garage, The Metropolitan Room, Miles’ Cafe, Puppet’s Jazz Bar, Cleopatra’s Needle, and Puffin Cultural Forum among others. The Caleb Curtis Trio was featured at the 2009 Stoop Celebration presented by F.O.K.U.S. He currently performs as a leader and with Manner Effect, the Kenji Yoshitake Trio, The Seguine/Baker Jazz Orchestra and a Harry Nilsson tribute project called Pointless Forest.
Caleb has received DownBeat Magazine awards both as a soloist and arranger; led his quintet in the invitational, full scholarship Jazz Aspen Snowmass Band Academy; received recognition from The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC as an outstanding instrumentalist and composer with performances on their Millennium Stage as part of the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead residency; he was also a finalist in the Gene Harris Jazz Competition. In 2008 he traveled with the Michigan State University Jazz Orchestra and Yutaka Shiina to Japan (Osaka, Kobe, Nagoya, Kyoto, Tokyo, Narita) for performances and master classes.
In addition to performing and composing, Caleb enjoys teaching in a variety of settings. In 2008 and 2009 he served as the jazz saxophone instructor at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp where he taught saxophone, improvisation, jazz history and conducted rehearsals. He enjoys teaching students of wildly different ages and ability levels.
If you are interested in lessons in the NYC area you can contact Caleb directly.
My All About Jazz Profile
The following are links to some great musicians and friends: