Education and Influences
Curt studied drum set with Bob Gullotti and has a Master of Music degree in Jazz Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music. His musical influences and interests, in no particular order, have included Max Roach, Andrew Cyrille, Steve Shelly, Gerry Hemingway, Joey Baron, Paul Lovens, Bob Gullotti, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, Eric Dolphy, Cecil Taylor, Son House, Captain Beefheart, Igor Stravinsky, Iannis Xenakis, Witold Lutoslawski, and the traditional music of Morocco, Ghana, Egypt, Turkey and Greece.
Percussion Performances
Curt has periodically developed a solo drumset repetoire, with original compositions, improvisations, and works for drumset by other composers. Select peformances include an all-drumset concert with master drummers Alan Dawson and Bob Gullotti (1992) world premiere of John Zorn's Hwang Chin Ee for two drumsets and narrator (New England Conservatory, 1996) original transcription of Lutoslawski String Quartet for solo drumset (1997) activating Chen Zhen's sculpture Jue Chang (50 Strokes to Each) at Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art (2002)
Curt performs with the following: the mi3 (w/ Pandelis Karayorgis, piano and Fender Rhodes; Nate McBride, bass) The Blooming (w/ Tom Hall, tenor saxophone; Jeff Song, cello and bass) Nate McBride Quartet (w/ Charlie Kohlhase, saxophones; Taylor Ho Bynum, brass; Nate McBride, bass) blues trio Middlewest (w/ Paul Trunnell and Bill Boehm, guitars and vocals) Dave Bryant Quartet Kevin Frenette Quartet Metal and Glass Ensemble subbing for The Blue Ribbons
Prior work includes: a long association with Chicago saxophonist and composer Ken Vandermark, dating back to 1986 and including four CDs; several years and three CDs with Joe Morris; a duo for Korean kayagum and chang-go with Jeff Song; and performances with musicians like sOo-Jung Kae, Jim Hobbs, Hans Poppel, Eric Hofbauer, Greg Kelley, Jorrit Dijkstra, Gabe Birnbaum, Jody Blackwell, The Poppies, Inner Beauty ....
Source: Curt Newton
