Curtis Fuller was born to Jamaican parents on December 15, 1934 in Detroit, Michigan. He had a sister who started his influence in music. His sister took piano lessons and young Curtis listened and sometimes tried to play a few notes on his own. His parents died when he was young and at age six he was sent to live in an orphanage. Curtis and his sister remained friends over the years even though they were separated. At the orphanage they let the kids play instruments and he started playing the violin, but when a nun saw his interest in music, she took Curtis to the Illinois Jacquets with JJ Thompson on trombone, and he is what inspired him to love brass instruments. . Seeing JJ Thompson pay was the trigger in Fuller's life that inspired him throughout his music career and still does today. Fuller attended Cass Technical High School in Detroit, where he became friends with Paul Chambers, Donald Bryd, Tommy Flanagan, Thad Jones and Milt Jackson. At that time, it was a hotbed of young musical talent. Curtis began playing baritone b...