Curtis Counce

Curtis Counce (January 23, 1926 – July 31, 1963) was an American hard bop and West Coast jazz double bassist.

Biography

Counce was born in Kansas City, Missouri and moved to California in 1945. He began recording in the 1950s in Los Angeles with Shelly Manne, Lyle Murphy, Teddy Charles, Clifford Brown, and many others.^[1] Counce formed his quintet in 1956 featuring tenor saxophonist Harold Land, trumpeters Jack Sheldon and Gerald Wilson, pianist Carl Perkins and drummer Frank Butler. Elmo Hope replaced Perkins after his death at age 29 in 1958.^[2] The four albums originally released on Contemporary Records were reissued in 2006 on a double CD by Gambit Spain. Counce died in Los Angeles, California, of a heart attack.

Selected Discography

As a leader

• You Get More Bounce With Curtis Counce originally released as Counceltation^[3] (Contemporary, 1956)
• Landslide (Contemporary, 1956)
• Sonority (Contemporary, 1958)
• Exploring the Future (Dooto, 1958)
• Carl's Blues (Contemporary, 1960 - recorded 1957)
• The Complete Studio Recordings: The Master Takes (Gambit, 2006)

As a sideman

• The Boss Man with Clifford Brown (Time, 1953)
• Collaboration: West with Teddy Charles and Shorty Rogers (Fantasy, 1953)
• Cool and Crazy with Shorty Rogers and his Orchestra featuring the Giants (RCA, 1953)
• The West Coast Sound, Volume 1 with Shelly Manne and His Men (Contemporary, 1953)
• Clifford Brown All-Stars with Clifford Brown (EmArcy, 1954)
• New Directions with Teddy Charles Quartet (Esquire, 1954)
• Tanganyika: Modern AfroAmerican Jazz with Buddy Collette and Chico Hamilton (DIG, 1954)
• Group Activity with Bob Cooper (Fresh Sounds, 1954)
• The Complete 1954-1955 Kenton Presents Sessions with Claude Williamson Trio (Fresh Sounds, 1955)
• Lyle Murphy and his Orchestra with Lyle Murphy (Contemporary, 1955)
• The Swinging Mr. Rogers with Shorty Rogers (Atlantic, 1955)
• Playboys with Chet Baker and Art Pepper (Pacific Jazz, 1956 - reissued as Picture of Heath)
• Cuban Fire! with Stan Kenton (Capitol, 1956)
• The Aladdin Sessions with Lester Young (Blue Note, 1975)
• Jazz Beginnings 1956-58 with John Williams (Fresh Sounds, 2006)

With Clifford Brown

• Best Coast Jazz (Emarcy, 1954)
• Clifford Brown All Stars (Emarcy, 1954 [1956])

With Maynard Ferguson

• Maynard Ferguson's Hollywood Party (EmArcy, 1954)
• Dimensions (EmArcy, 1955)

References

Literature

• Richard Morton & Brian Cook: The Penguin Guide To Jazz On CD, London, Penguin, 2nd Edition, 1994 & 6th Edition, 2002

External links

• Curtis Counce at All Music Guide