Celebrating Bill Barron & Ted Curson

Sep 15, 2015

On Friday October 16th, 2015, at the American Philosophical Society, PJP will pay tribute to two talented Philadelphia artists Bill Barron and Ted Curson, who were in the thick of things during the New Thing in Jazz in the late 1950s. If you've never "heard of" them, you've probably "heard" them. Saxophonist, Bill Barron and trumpeter, Ted Curson recorded and performed together on quite a number of ocassions most notably their 1964 album, "Now, Hear This!" They had the distinction of working with Cecil Taylor, Charles Mingus, Philly Joe Jones, Jimmy Heath, Andrew Hill, New York Contemporary 5 and Archie Shepp and continued to explore the possibilities of music until their departures from this life. Bill Barron passed in September of 1989. Ted Curson passed in November of 2012.

This concert celebrates their genius and features the Makanda Project, a 13 piece Boston-based Big Band led by pianist, John Kordalewski and featuring musicians like Bill Lowe, Jerry Sabatini, Joe Ford, Ku-umba Frank Lacy, Wes Brown and others. The Makanda Project is an ensemble dedicated to performing the compositions of Makanda Ken McIntyre, a colleague of Bill Barron's. They will be performing works by Bill Barron, as well as a few of Makanda's compostitions. The opening act for the evening and presenting the works of Ted Curson will be a local ensemble, specially organized for this occasion called Quicksand. This group is led by trumpeter Matthew Stewart with special guests Carol Harris, Mark Griffith & Sam Reed.

Celebrating Bill Barron & Ted Curson

Featuring The Makanda Project & Quicksand

Friday October 16th, 2015 at 7:30pm

American Philosophical Society

427 Chestnut Street Phila., PA 19106


Tickets: $15 in advance/$20 at the door

Get Tickets Here!

We asked a few Philadelphia musicians about them....

"My music career has interacted with both of these fine Philly musicians. Bill Barron was my first Jazz saxophone teacher after I graduated from the "instrument store" music school.  When he found out that I was also interested in orchestration (arranging), he stretched out my schooling by teaching me a lot about arranging along with his bad, pianist brother Kenny Barron, who Dizzy Gillespie dubbed "the greatest pianist of them all."

              ----  Trumpeter and Arranger, Leon Michell

"Ted Curson and I have been connected since second grade. He, Tootie Heath and I all grew up together in the same neighborhood in South Philly. We also went to school together all the way into high school. In high school, Tootie went to Ben Franklin High School. Ted and I went Mastbaum High School. At that time, Mastbaum had one of the very best music programs in the city. While in high school the three of us Ted Curson, Tootie Heath and I performed as The Bebop Trio. We had a radio show called the Parisian Taylors Kiddie Hour, which was broadcast on Sunday afternoon’s on WHAT radio.

The Bebop Trio would eventually split up after high school. Ted moved to New York soon after high school. Tootie started touring even before we graduated from high school. I went to Branoff Music School and in due time, I too started touring with other musicians."

              ----  Saxophonist and Bandleader, Sam Reed;

The Performers for the evening include:

Celebrating Bill Barron & Ted Curson

Featuring The Makanda Project & Quicksand

Friday October 16th, 2015 at 7:30pm

American Philosophical Society

427 Chestnut Street Phila., PA 19106


Tickets: $15 in advance/$20 at the door

Get Tickets Here!

This concert is a Pretzel Logic Series Event: A Philadelphia Jazz Project series in collaboration with local venues investigating what it means to be a Philadelphian from historical figures and fictional characters, to just plain ole folk. From magical moments to frightful urban legends, the Pretzel Logic series will unravel and explore the multi-faceted curves and intriguing twists and turns of the Philly state of mind.

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Tags : BillBarron TedCurson SamReed LeonMitchell MakandaProject Quicksand MakandaKenMcIntyre MatthewStewart JohnKordalewski BillLowe JerrySabatini JoeFord Ku-umbaFrankLacy WesBrown