Roy McCurdy


Roy McCurdy is a jazz drummer.

Early life

McCurdy began playing drums around the age of 10 in his hometown of Rochester and took lessons from Eastman percussionist Bill Street as a teenager. He spent three years in the Air Force before returning to Rochester to begin his career.

Career

Before joining Cannonball Adderley's Quintet in 1965 and staying with the band until Adderley's death in 1975, he had played with Chuck and Gap Mangione in the Jazz Brothers, as well as with Bobby Timmons, Betty Carter and Sonny Rollins, appearing on the classic 1963 album Sonny Meets Hawk!
He attended the Eastman School of Music from sixteen to eighteen, during which time he also played professionally with Roy Eldridge and with Eddie Vinson at seventeen. In 1960 he joined the Art Farmer – Benny Golson Jazztet and remained for two years.
Among the influences he cites Louie Bellson, Shelly Manne, Sam Woodyard, Buddy Rich, Papa Jo Jones, Philly Joe Jones and the bands of Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford and Lionel Hampton.
He has also played and/or recorded with Count Basie, Wes Montgomery, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Joe Williams, Herbie Hancock, Oscar Peterson, Bud Powell, Art Pepper, and the jazz rock group Blood, Sweat and Tears, etc.
He appears on the classic 1983 recording Jackson, Johnson, Brown & Company featuring Milt Jackson on vibes, J. J. Johnson on trombone, Ray Brown on bass, Tom Ranier on piano, and John Collins on guitar.
As of 2010, McCurdy is an adjunct professor in the Jazz Studies Department of the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California.

Discography

As a member

Blood, Sweat & Tears
  • ''Brand New Day''

    As sideman

With Gap and Chuck Mangione, The Jazz Brothers
  • The Jazz Brothers
  • Hey Baby
With Cannonball Adderley
With Nat Adderley
With Gene Ammons
  • Brasswind
With Count Basie
  • Mostly Blues...and Some Others
With Benny Carter
With Betty Carter
  • Inside Betty Carter
With Art Farmer
  • Perception
  • Here and Now – with Benny Golson
  • Another Git Together – with Benny Golson
With Benny Golson
  • California Message with Curtis Fuller
  • One More Mem'ry with Curtis Fuller
With Herbie Mann and Tamiko Jones
  • A Mann & A Woman
With Mark Murphy
  • Bop for Kerouac
With Kenny Rankin
  • After the Roses
  • Professional Dreamer
With Shorty Rogers and Bud Shank
  • Yesterday, Today and Forever
With Sonny Rollins
  • Sonny Meets Hawk!
  • Now's the Time
  • Nucleus
With Bobby Timmons
  • Sweet and Soulful Sounds
With Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson
  • I Want a Little Girl
With Joe Williams
  • Joe Williams Live
With Michael Wolff
  • Portraiture, The Blues Period
;With Betty Bennett