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For many years, Curtiss A has been the most talented and least ambitious rock singer in town. This summer he has become ambitious about exploring his talents.
He is working in a swing duo with Prudence Johnson, forming his own R&B revue, his own blues band and maybe a country-pop ensemble (again with Johnson) in addition to continuing to front his rock group. He also auditioned to sing on a commercial for a well-known Twin Cities food company.
"I wouldn't say I'm more ambitious," said Curtiss A, who has a quick tongue and a wry wit. "I've developed a better schmoozability. . . .
"To be rich and famous is one thing. But talent is something else. I still feel the same about show business. It's trite. But I like singing."
The turning point for Curtiss A, 37, came this spring when he participated with other local vocal luminaries in an all-star tribute to legendary rock 'n' roll songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller at the Guthrie Theater. The Dean of Scream, as Curt Almsted has been dubbed, had perceived himself as being from "the other side of the tracks," but his participation gained him respect from such peers as Willie Murphy, Shirley Witherspoon and Johnson.
Johnson said she had never really respected Curtiss A as a vocalist. "The first few times I'd heard him at the Longhorn it was so loud I couldn't hear anything he was singing," she said. "For years, we'd been acquaintances and had said we should get together and sing. At the Leiber-Stoller rehearsals, I realized he's a...