Curtis Peagler (September 17, 1929 — December 19, 1992) was an American jazz saxophonist who was well rooted in the hard swing-oriented sound of the mid west, and played with some of the best in the business. He specialized in straight-ahead jazz and hard bop.
Peagler was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He played in the blues genre during the first phase of his career. At 13, he started on the C-melody sax and soon joined the Sons of Rhythm on alto. He worked with other territory bands and backed singer Big Maybelle before joining the U.S. Army for two years from 1953 to 1955. After being discharged he attended the Cincinnati Conservatory for two years and played locally.
In 1960, with the assistance of Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, he started recording for Prestige. Peagler then recorded with Lem Winchester and joined his Modern Jazz Disciples, which specialized in hard bop and recorded for Columbia. The band included a euphonium and normaphone player, William "Hicky" Kelley, an unusual instrument for jazz musicians to play during the era. The Disciples recorded two albums: the self-titled Modern Jazz Disciples (1959) and Right Down Front (1962). Peagler recorded as a member of Lem Winchester's sextet that recorded the album Lem's Beat in 1960, just a year before the vibraphone player died of a gun accident.
Peagler moved to Los Angeles in 1962 to freelance and spent 1966-1967 and 1969 with Ray Charles. He did some studio work and toured with Count Basie for seven years (1971-1978). After the Basie years, back on the coast, he resettled in Los Angeles and started his own label Sea Pea Records, doing “For Basie and Duke,” as a leader. He also recorded “I'll Be Around,” as the Curtis Peagler 4, for Pablo Records. While at Pablo he did some fine work on albums by Harry “Sweets” Edison, Big Joe Turner, and the now famous dates where Oscar Peterson and Count Basie teamed up.
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| Curtis in the Ray Charles band |
Throughout the '80's Peagler was a featured saxophonist with the esteemed Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band, and can be heard on all their Concord records recorded during that time. Jeannie Cheatham recollected that while on a European tour in Nice, France, a man pushed his way through the audience and asked Curtis to autograph a record. Curtis was always gracious and mannerly with folks earning him the nickname “Bourgeois.” “Of course” he said. Then took the obviously old record in his hands and stared at it in disbelief. “Hey” he exclaimed, “this is the very first record I ever recorded! How did it get to Europe?”
Not waiting for an answer to his question, he launched into a story. “There was this record company in Cincinnati when I was a teenager. I told the owner I could play alto sax, but he wouldn’t listen to me. Told me I could hang around if I painted the outside of the studio. I told him I would.” Curtis closed his eyes, as if he were seeing that paint go onto the walls. “One day while I was painting, and straining to listen to the music inside, the owner came running out. He said one of the sax players hadn’t shown up and would I bring my horn in and play with the group.” We waited in anticipation. anticipation.
“Well, I took my alto in there and tore it up! I knew this was my big chance.” He stared at the record again. “I was just a kid. I never had a chance to see or hear this record.” Curtis signed the cover. You could tell he was really overcome. He’d had a quadruple bypass operation earlier that year, and we knew this record signing was precious to him, “Every day is my lucky day!” Curtis was always philosophical and humorous. We all laughed. C’est si bon!
Curtis Peagler was a solid, hard working sax man whose performance and recording resume was quite impressive. He remained in Los Angeles until his death December 19, 1992 following heart surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 55.
Jazz critic Leonard Feather described Peagler as "an exciting, extrovert saxophonist who lent colour to every band he played in, from Ray Charles in the 1960s to Count Basie in the ‘70s." James Nadal referred to him as "a solid, hard working sax man whose performance and recording resume was quite impressive."
(Edited from Wikipedia, AllMusic & All About Jazz)