Curt Bisquera was born in Santa Maria,California. Kirkee B, as his friends and colleagues know him, began playing drums at age 3 and by the time he entered grade school, his Mom, a Jazz pianist and B3 player, had him playing in jazz clubs on weekends. Self-taught at first, Curt formed various bands with friends and played professionally, even at an early age. Shortly after finishing High School, he ventured south, ending up as a student in the inception of Hollywood’s P.I.T., known now as Musician’s Institute.
During those early days at M.I., Curt’s teacher’s included Joe Porcaro, Ralph Humphrey, Ed Roscetti and Joe Brancato. It was at M.I. where he met Jeff Porcaro, who later became one of his main influences. Curt ended up leaving school a few months early, when he got wind of an audition for Morris Day & The Time and ended up getting the gig. This was to be his first official, big-time tour, at age 19. After 2 tours with Morris Day, he went on to work with other R&B artists including Shalamar, Sheena Easton, Pebbles and then in 1990, got hired for his first, big Rock tour, with The Go-Go’s Belinda Carlisle. During his time with Carlisle, producer Don Was got wind of Curt and hired him for his first session. His first session was, needless to say, a home run – Bonnie Raitt’s “Luck Of The Draw”. Bonnie’s single, “Something To Talk About”, became a huge hit, won her a Grammy and launched Curt Bisquera into the major leagues of session drummers. He’s not stopped since.
After getting a few other sessions under his belt, Toto’s Jeff Porcaro began recommending him for work. What followed were a string of hit records featuring Curt’s drumming, including Seal’s hugely successful debut, self-titled album, Paula Abdul’s “Spellbound”, Public Image’s “That What Is Not”, Elton John’s “Duets”, Leonard Cohen’s “Tower Of Song” and Celine Dion’s “Falling Into You”. He also became busy in the film session scene, working on soundtracks for “She’s The One”, “The Craft”, “The Bourne Supremacy” and Christopher Guest’s brilliant comedy, “For Your Consideration”.
Another music icon that found Kirkee B’s groove to his liking was Rock legend Mick Jagger. Curt performed on Jagger’s “Wandering Spirit” CD and then toured and appeared on various TV shows, including Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show. After Jagger, Curt continued increasing his collection of iconic credits. Just a few of the artists he’s worked with include Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Queen Latifah, Johnny Cash, The Dixie Chicks, k.d. Lang, Alison Krauss, Etta James, John Fogerty, Lionel Richie, Ricky Martin, Josh Groban, Boz Scaggs, Tina Turner, Nelly Furtado, Spice Girls, James Taylor, Dave Stewart, The B52’s and Joni Mitchell.
One of the most highly acclaimed DVD/CD releases of the past 20 years is Elton John’s “One Night Only” – Live @ Madison Square Garden. It features Curt double-drumming with Elton’s original drummer, Nigel Olsson. A dream gig, Curt quotes this as one of his career highlights. A perfect example of Curt Bisquera’s deep, magic feel can be heard on Elton’s hit song, “Little Jeannie”…a must for any drummer.
Curt’s relationships with hit-making producers continues, as he remains a top studio call for Rick Nowles, Rick Rubin and Phil Ramone. He has also released a solo CD entitled, “C.M.B” (Consciousness-Mindfulness-Beauty), featured on iTunes, CD Baby and Omstream.com.
Currently, along with his busy recording schedule, Curt can be seen as the host of a show every Thursday on DrumChannel.com entitled “DC Live”, which features appearances by today’s hottest drumming talent.
