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Theodore Curson was born on June 3, 1935 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He became interested in playing trumpet after watching a newspaper salesman play a silver trumpet, however, his father preferred he become an alto saxophonist like Louis Jordan. By the time he turned 10 years old he received his first trumpet.

Curson attended Granoff School of Music in Philadelphia and at the suggestion of Miles Davis, moved to New York City in 1956. He performed and recorded with Cecil Taylor in the late 1950s and early 1960s and his 1964 Eric Dolphy tribute composition Tears for Dolphy has been used in numerous films.

Ted is a familiar face in Finland performing annually at the Port Jazz Festival each year since its inception in 1966. In 2007 he played the Finland’s Independence Day Ball at the invitation of President Tarja Halonen.

Trumpeter Ted Curson recorded some twenty albums as a leader for Old Town, Prestige, Fontana, Atlantic, Freedom, EMI Columbia Interplay and Inner City record labels among many others. He has been a sideman on fifteen other albums with Andrew Hill, Nick Brignola, Charles Mingus, The NY Contemporary Five, Sal Nistico, Archie Shepp, Pepper Adams and a host of others until his death on November 4, 2012 in Montclair, New Jersey.

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