Barbara Sutton Curtis

Born just west of St. Louis in Howell, MO, in 1930, Barbara Sutton-Curtis developed her considerable piano chops in quiet competition with her big brother Ralph Sutton, who was born in Hamburg, MO, in 1922. Barbara Sutton began playing professionally in 1949, and in 1951 Ralph set her up with a gig at the Central Plaza in New York City. Brother and sister started performing duets publicly in 1959. Both individuals developed remarkable facility as interpreters of the Harlem stride piano tradition, and they shared a specialized devotion to the music of Thomas "Fats" Waller, unea...