Monday, April 30

Curtis Amy and The Doors

My last post about Bud Shank (who I listened to a lot this weekend, which made for a wonderful soundtrack) had me thinking about another jazz great who was prominantly featured in a 1960s rock hit.

I am not a huge Doors fan but I admit they have a handful of classic tracks. I like the fact that their drummer, John Densmore, played mostly jazz before he joined the band and he felt that The Doors retained jazz elements. This is apparent in the great track 'Touch Me' which turns into a jazz-like number at the end. That great sax solo is played by Curtis Amy. Haven't heard of him?

That's a shame since he was a fine player who never got his due (yes, another jazz cliche in action) but had a fantastic aggressive tone and was surely the finest horn player to ever come out of Houston, Texas. Aside from doing studio work (not only did he play with The Doors but was also featured on Carole King's mega-selling Tapestry album) he put out some fine albums of his own in the 1960s that are worth exploring. How about listening to 'Bobblin' which he recorded with a top-notch band that included two of my favourites that I need to talk to you about soon: Carmell Jones on trumpet and Bobby Hutherson on vibes.

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