Instrumentation,
and Other
Artist Information
___________________________________________________
Thomas
Curtner: Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Percussion, Computer. Albedo song writer - the founding member of
ALBEDO.
________________________________
(assist Thomas when they may)
Michael McCulloch: Guitar, computer.
Russ Fuquay: Bass, songwriter, singer, guitarist, solo-guitarist.
Tommy Prince: Drums, Percussion.
William
Boyd: sax family, et.al.
Bruce
Moyer: Saxophone, Keys, Flute.
Bob
Knapp: Saxophone. Sax solos on 'Dolphin Watch', 'Across
The Horizon', 'The Train', 'Ricochet' on the Dolphin Watch CD.
Charlie Rule: Keyboards. Keyboard work on 'Niko', on the
Dolphin Watch CD.
Tom Sayres: Bass.
_____________________________________________________
Biographical
Information
Thomas Curtner -
Thomas
has been
composing music since approx. age 4, but only started seriously trying
to reproduce what he heard - since age 25! He cannot focus on a genre,
having written all types of songs (from contemporary Christian to
country, and jazz to blues, plus some comedy - see lyrics section),
but tends to gravitate towards a 'jazz' style - very loosely
put.
He studied piano for about 6 years as youth, then when in high school
and college, moved to combo instruments and live playing - mostly in
the Memphis TN, Knoxville TN scenes. He spent 2 years in the UT music
dept.,
taking some courses under Jerry Coker, and playing bass in the Don Huff
led trombone choir. He played the local Knoxville gigs as bassist, with
Jerry Coker, Bill Scarlett, Tom Richeson and others, because
Rusty Holloway was on the road with Woody Herman at the time (of course
when Rusty came back, Thomas was back to the woodshed!).
From there, he continued
his education and obtained BA in Church Music. He moved back and forth
from
Memphis to Knoxville, playing in a variety of groups, and with
such artists as Niko Lyras (guitarist, now with voodoo
village),
and Bob Hogue (saxophone). This was only in the
late 70s! To abbreviate, 15 intervening years of Contemporary Christian
Music in the Knoxville area ( groups ZOE, Tape release: 'ZOE: Greatest
Hits', Black & CO., release: 'No Skiing In The Lake Of Fire'),
followed by light and smooth jazz from the
mid 90s to present (playing guitar in the Knoxville-based group Smooth,
of local light jazz renown in early 2000s).
Now he is thrilled to be accompanied by such talent as is found in
Albedo Jazz, and looks forward with anticipation to CD/album releases,
and of course, the live creative jam moments in Albedo Jazz.
"If Yahweh is not glorified in what I do, then I will have failed
in fulfilling my reason for being, and with the Albedo Jazz work..."
Contact Info:
- Thomas D. Curtner
- 9937 Sierra Vista Ln.
- Knoxville, TN 37922
- 865-789-5190
- Email Me
My page: Immersion Pictures
_____________________________________________________
Michael
McCulloch -
Michael taught himself guitar
starting at age 12 using the Mel Bay Book #1. The next few years were
spent learning songs from various guitar rock albums of the 70's (all
the usual suspects here). He still considers playing those songs a
guilty pleasure.
About halfway through high school
Michael desired to broaden his musical tastes. Disco was king so what
other choice could he make... He sought a teacher at a local music
store in Sweetwater, TN. His teacher was none other than Thomas
Curtner! Thomas exposed him to jazz and opened a new chapter in
Michael's guitar skills and overall musical development. There were
many enjoyable moments including performing on the curb by the music
store and joining several musicians in jam sessions at a local college
even if most of the music was over his head.
Michael attended Tennessee Tech
in Cookeville, TN and pursued an electrical engineering degree.
However, for one semester he was a member of the lower-echelon
"Trouveres" jazz band in the Tech music department which performed for
middle TN schools and various Tech functions. Michael also pursued jazz
piano lessons for one semester, but was unable to continue
participation in both the jazz band and piano classes due to the
pressures of an engineering curricula. The highlight of this period was
a public performance with Louie Bellson, an incredible drummer of the
Big Band era.
After college and a couple of
decades of playing for his own enjoyment and the occasional wedding or
church service, Michael again met Thomas at the local FedEx office one
afternoon. Thomas indicated his intentions of forming a new jazz band
and the rest is history!
Contact Info:
- Michael McCulloch
-
- Knoxville, TN
-
-
_____________________________________________________
Tommy Prince -
Tommy Prince began
playing drums
in the
fifth grade. He was asked to join the junior high school orchestra to
play the bass drum since he could read music having taken three years
of piano lessons. He soon moved to playing the snare drum through the
seventh grade. It was in eighth grade he bought a red sparkle Gretsch
drum set and played in various teenage garage bands. In 1968 he becane
the drummer for the soul band Sons of Caldonia and played around the
University of Tennessee in clubs and fraternity parties. While persuing
a Bachelors of Arts degree in psychology at the University of Tennessee
he played in various clubs in the Knoxville area.
After earning a
Masters Degree
in
Psychology from Georgia State University he returned to Knoxville to
begin his consulting practice and play drums for several churches. In
the mid 1980's he studied drums and percussion under Keith Brown at the
University of Tennessee. He continued playing in churches in the 1990's
and joined the group Smooth in 2001. Presently he continues to play
drums in church, the group Albedo and the group Spanky Dog (ouch,
woof!).
Contact Info:
- Tommy Prince
- Suburban Drive
- Knoxville, TN
-
- Email Me
_____________________________________________________
Russ Fuquay -
Russ is the newest
member of
Albedo. He
and Thomas met interestingly enough through E-Bay. About Albedo - "I
love this group! Every musician is fantastic. I count my blessing that
I get to hang out with these guys. The guitar styles of Thomas and
Michael are very different from my own. I'm learning new things and we
always have a blast. It's a real sweet deal!"
Born in Big Spring
Texas, Russ
started
playing guitar by ear at age five. He spent most of his youth learning
tunes and solos note per note. Not just guitar solos either. Deep
Purple, Alice Cooper, Stevie Ray, Van Halen, Elton John, Kiss and all
the top country groups were the targets. In high school he meet a jazz
pianist and composer, Gene Curry. "Playing and studying with Gene for
three years was an incredible experience. I would sit by his piano with
my guitar and try to figure out what he was doing. That is a great
education for a guitarist." Working for a local radio station provided
even more exposure to new artists and musical styles.
Russ is known in Texas
more for
his
singing abilities than guitar. He was the #1 All-State Choir Bass in
1978 and was in the All-State Choir three consecutive years. He
attended Texas Christian University on a Choral music scholarship.
"Opera just wasn't my thing. I couldn't find a whammy bar anywhere."
After a few more years
of radio
Russ
decided to get a little discipline and see the world, so off to the Air
Force he went.
"The greatest
experience in my
life other
than the birth of my children, was spending four years in Japan and
almost five years in Okinawa. The people are amazingly wonderful.
Actually living in a different culture is the most eye-opening
experience you could ask for. I wish every American could live for a
few years in a different country. Jazz and other forms of great music
are highly prized in Japan. Musicians can make a nice living playing
and teaching." "My reason for leaving the military was to follow a
calling to work with Christian music."
Since returning to the
states,
Russ has
been home schooling his son and taking things a little more slowly. He
served as Contemporary Music Director for a two local churches.
Guitar has always been
the primary
instrument, but bass guitar is in the mix as well. Over the last 30
years Russ has played guitar and bass in countless musical productions
and church services, dozens of groups, solo gigs, and has recorded and
produced a number of CD's for others. He currently has three of his own
CD's to his credit.
THE BOOK is a fresh
contemporary
Christian
CD. All original tunes of many styles and flavors. "A great deal of
prayer and effort went into this project. I'm very happy with the
results. It's not the stuff you hear on the radio."
THE BIGER THEY ARE? by
Big
Russ and The Bell Boys is a collection of blues songs played with his
good friends Lee and Daniel Bell.
THE HOLIDAY GUITARIST
is the
newest
instrumental recording. "I've always listened to Joe Pass and lots of
great jazz guitarists. A little over 10 years ago I was introduced to
the musical talent of Tuck Andres. His approach of playing bass lines,
melodies, harmonies while simultaneously getting in as much percussion
stuff as you can is taking solo guitar to new levels. It takes
tremendous concentration and practice, but the results are wonderful.
It's nice to know that I'm not past my prime yet. As long as I can
continue to create new arrangements and new techniques, I'm happy!"
Currently Russ is
teaching
privately,
working on more arrangements, enjoying his lovely family and playing
with two groups - Albedo Jazz and Howard & Fuquay.
Contact Info:
_____________________________________________________
Bruce Moyer -
Bruce Moyer leads the Chemical
Separation Group at
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he has been a research chemist
since 1979. In that time, he has become internationally known in the
field of separation science, with approximately 150 publications,
including journal articles, book chapters, proceedings, and an edited
book. Among other activities, he is Co-editor of an international
journal, Solvent Extraction and Ion Exchange and has recently become
Co-editor of the book series Ion Exchange and Solvent Extraction.
His musical
background has been based
around the tenor saxophone since elementary school. He played in
marching bands and concert bands through high school and into his
second year at Duke University, when chemistry laboratory classes began
to conflict with rehearsals! After that, he would serenade his
dormitory on weekends by practicing in the bathroom, where there were
fine acoustics. Having honed his skills thusly, he joined the top 40
band Spring Fever in Durham, North Carolina, playing throughout much of
his time in chemistry graduate school at the Univ. of N. Carolina at
Chapel Hill. On moving to Oak Ridge, he co-wrote the music for the
musical production "The B.S. Edison," which played at the Oak Ridge
Playhouse in 1981. He played jazz in the local bands "Prime Time Band"
and "Don't Look
Now" in Oak Ridge in the 1980s and 1990s and then
joined the Knoxville band "Smooth" in the early 2000s.
Contact Info:
- Bruce Moyer
-
- Oak Ridge, Tennessee
- Email Me
_____________________________________________________
William Boyd -
Contact Info:
- William Boyd
-
- Knoxville, Tennessee
- Email Me
_____________________________________________________
Bob Knapp -
Woodwind player,
composer and
studio musician Bob
Knapp is a native of Pompton Plains, New Jersey and holds music degrees
from William Paterson University and The University of Tennessee,
Knoxville. He has composed and played with original jazz groups such as
Sidespin, and Quadrophonic Funk, and in the New York area with jazz
fusion group Outlet.
As a freelance
musician, he has
performed and/or recorded with Carl Allen, Donald Brown, Richard
"Groove" Holmes, Chico Mendoza, Kenny Rogers, Lionel Hampton, Frankie
Valli and many others.
Contact Info:
_____________________________________________________
Charlie Rule
-
Contact
Info:
_____________________________________________________
Tom Sayres -
Owns LLC: Portfolio Audit, in Knoxville TN.
Contact Info:
_____________________________________________________
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