McCurdy began playing drums around the age of 10 in his hometown of Rochester and took lessons from Eastman percussionist Bill Street as a teenager.
[1] Before joining Cannonball Adderley's Quintet in 1965 and staying with the band until Adderley's death in 1975, he had played with Chuck and Gap Mangione in the Jazz Brothers (1960–1961), as well as with Bobby Timmons, Betty Carter and Sonny Rollins (1963–1964), appearing on the classic 1963 album Sonny Meets Hawk!
[2] He attended the Eastman School of Music from sixteen to eighteen, during which time he also played professionally with Roy Eldridge and with Eddie Vinson at seventeen.
He has also played and/or recorded with Count Basie, Wes Montgomery, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Joe Williams, Herbie Hancock, Oscar Peterson, Bud Powell, Art Pepper, and the jazz rock group Blood, Sweat and Tears, etc.
[3] With Gap and Chuck Mangione, The Jazz Brothers With Cannonball Adderley With Nat Adderley With Gene Ammons With Count Basie With Benny Carter With Betty Carter With Art Farmer With Benny Golson With Herbie Mann and Tamiko Jones With Mark Murphy With Kenny Rankin With Shorty Rogers and Bud Shank With Sonny Rollins With Bobby Timmons With Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson With Joe Williams With Michael Wolff