Curtis C. Harmon, music teacher and performer

Curtis C. Harmon, music teacher, performer, director of musical groups, Merchant Marine veteran of World War II, and devoted family man, died Jan. 22. He was 81 and lived in Chestnut Hill.

He performed with some of the most popular jazz musicians and singers of his day, including Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, Billy Eckstine, Joe Williams and Dave Brubeck.

He was mentor and consultant to the Philadelphia musical group Pieces of a Dream, which has performed and recorded widely since it was founded in 1975.

Curtis was born in Philadelphia to Daniel and Mammie Harmon. He graduated from Simon Gratz High School.

He later received a degree in music composition from the Temple University College of Music.

He started out playing the keyboard in elementary school, later switched to French horn in junior high and then the vibraharp in high school.

He started playing in dance bands in 1943. After the war, he continued to tour with musical groups all over the country. He spent time in Florida teaching, including private instruction in jazz improvisation.

Curtis was associate professor of music at Temple for 29 years and also taught at Community College of Philadelphia and the Jenkintown Music School.

At the time of his death, Curtis was still teaching at Temple's Center City campus.

He was the resident pianist and music director of Stokesey Castle, a popular dinner theater in Reading. In the early '70s, he began teaching music at the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Department of Community Programs. He was later program director of the Cultural Center of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, known as the Thomas Eakins House.

He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Florence; two sons, Daniel and William; a sister, Geraldine Ferguson; six grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

Services: Are private. *

John F. Morrison