Caleb Wheeler Curtis

Saxophonist, trumpeter, and multi-instrumentalist Caleb Wheeler Curtis is an improvising musician, composer, and collaborator known for his "intensely focused and garrulously inventive" style, which draws from a wide range of influences including progressive bop and post-Coltrane/Ornette free improvisation. Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, and based in Brooklyn, NY for the past 16 years, his work spans a wide range of projects, each offering a distinctive and direct approach to creating and performing music. Caleb has been called “one of the more daring musicians in jazz today” (All About Jazz) and his music has been described as “a masterpiece—we cannot find a term that defines it more precisely” (Musica Jazz, Italy).

As a bandleader, Caleb’s most recent release, The True Story of Bears and the Invention of the Battery (2024, Imani Records), showcases the breadth of his musical ideas. Across both discs, Caleb plays stritch (a straight alto saxophone), sopranino saxophone, trumpet, and tenor saxophone. The first disc features his trio with Sean Conly on bass and Michael Sarin on drums, while the second disc, Raise Four: Monk the Minimalist, presents interpretations of lesser-known compositions by Thelonious Monk with Eric Revis on bass and Justin Faulkner on drums. The album was described by All About Jazz as “a jubilant and invigorating release that can lay its claim to be considered alongside the best of 2024.”