Joined
·
29 Posts
I first met Kurt back in DC when we both lived there. He's about 5 years older than me, He was from Rockville MD. and I from Kensington, so I think I was about 18 or 19. I totally idolized Kurt at the time. He was a schooled player who studied at Berklee and I was mainly an R&B student who love to play and also sing. We all talked about moving to either NY or Cali, and I moved out in '73. I think Kurt moved out just a few years later. We didn't work together alot. I actually saw Kurt more in social settings with get togethers of the DC guys Dave Smith, drummer percussionist, Steve Larrance, drummer, myself, and Kurt. We used to talk about fishing and how much we missed those blue crabs! One time he did a horn arrangement for a reggae version of the Beatles "Love Me Do" for a CD put out by Dave Smith. Another time I was asked by a promoter to play in a jazz festival near where I live north of LA, and the guy asked me if I knew anyone who specialized on bari Sax to play at the festival(guess who I thought of). And oh yes another time I called him to play bari in a ten piece horn section for the Temptations. He of course did a fantastic job at whatever he played, even though he didn't like to play "commercial" gigs. He was a true original, and his playing was probably misunderstood by most of the people that heard him. But you couldn't deny the virtuosity.
He had the dryest, most cynical sense of humor you could imagine! Some of his substitute terms for things are just legendary. But he was ultimately one of the nicest guys you could ever know. Those that knew him well will miss him greatly.
He had the dryest, most cynical sense of humor you could imagine! Some of his substitute terms for things are just legendary. But he was ultimately one of the nicest guys you could ever know. Those that knew him well will miss him greatly.
