King Curtis

18-year-old Curtis Ousley arrived in New York in 1952, already in possession of some fearsome chops on his tenor saxophone. He'd wailed strong enough in his hometown of Fort Worth, Texas to earn the regal stage moniker of King Curtis. A few years later, he'd replace Sam "The Man" Taylor as New York's first-call studio sax man, cutting loose with crystalline solos on countless R&R and rock and roll recordings. Curtis was versatile enough to blow straight-ahead jazz fare as well, maintaining two separate stylistic careers simultaneously fora time and excelling at both. Curtis recorded for a variety of labels during his career, including stints at Capitol and Atlantic, but what is arguably his finest session came for Bobby Robinson's Harlem-based Enjoy Records in 1962. King Curtis never officially "joined" Bobby Robinson's Enjoy label, rather, he came aboard only provisionally, willing to cut a couple of sides and see if they hit, and once they did, he would sign. Robinson ran the session for "Soul Twist" and the record became Curtis' first hit. This album features the best of the Bobby Robinson sessions, and the best of his session work.