Curtis Amy

A good soul-jazz and hard bop tenor and soprano saxophonist, Curtis Amy enjoyed a busy period in the '60s, then dropped out of sight. He had a strong tone and nice, lightly swinging style, though he wasn't a great soloist. Amy began playing clarinet as a child, then started on tenor in an Army band. He studied music education at Kentucky State College and earned his bachelor's degree in the early '50s. After teaching school a while in Tennessee and working in Midwestern clubs, Amy moved to Los Angeles in the mid-'50s. He recorded with Dizzy Gillespie in 1955, then worked in th...