Curtis Fuller
Curtis DuBois Fuller (December 15, 1932 – May 8, 2021) was an American jazz trombonist. He was a member of Art Blakey‘s Jazz Messengersand contributed to many classic jazz recordings.
Fuller was born in Detroit on December 15, 1932. His father had emigrated from Jamaica and worked in a Ford automobile factory, but he died from tuberculosis before his son was born. His mother, who had moved north from Atlanta, died when he was 9. He spent several years in an orphanage run by Jesuits. He developed a passion for jazz after one of the nuns there brought him to see Illinois Jacquet and his band perform, with J. J. Johnson on trombone.