Jazz

VOICES Notes and news on Jazz releases

Memorial Day weekend reflections often turn to thoughts of musicians whose passing, like the soldiers' we remember, came far too soon. One name among too many, tenor saxman King Curtis thankfully stands out more for than vibrant music he left behind than for the painfully tragic circumstances of his murder.

Curtis' saxophone sound was an immediately hot, honking squawk - a hot squonk? - that burned in your ear and your soul. He was more commercially known for working with the Coasters and Aretha Franklin, but King Curtis recorded plenty of instrumental jazz and R&B sides. Soul Meeting (Prestige, 1994) combines two albums the tenorman recorded in 1960 with Nat Adderly and Wynton Kelly working out Curtis originals like the title track, "In a Funky Groove," and "Do You Have Soul Now?" plus instrumental soul and jazz standards.

Night Train (Prestige, '95) brings together two absolutely riotous 1960-'61 sessions, swinging jams on dance and party favorites of the day in the company of other soul-jazz legends like guitarists Eric Gale and Billy Butler, and organist Jack McDuff. It's one of those "instant party in a box" CDs. McDuff and congeruo Willie Rodriguez rattle the hot-blooded bones of "Fever," while Curtis and crew strap it up to sashay through "Tuxedo Junction," do the slow grind with his "Lean Baby" so thoroughly nice and "Easy Like," to elegantly twirl and glide through "Harlem Nocturne" then shake and shimmy through "The Party Time Twist."

In 1971, Curtis was murdered on the front step outside his West 86th Street NYC apartment, stabbed in the heart after an argument with men who were loitering on the steps and refused to move on. He was 37. Giving his albums a spin is a great way to celebrate King Curtis' memory.