Pianist Zaccai Curtis “Cubop Lives!” on jazzdelapena
Zaccai Curtis is a multi-faceted pianist for whom every side of his work gleams. As an equal parts performer, composer, educator, and producer, Curtis has won esteem in each area as he showcases his mastery of the Jazz and Afro-Cuban Jazz lineages. As a composer, Curtis is a three-time ASCAP Young Jazz Composer winner and a recipient of the Connecticut Commission on Tourism’s Artist Fellowship Grant and the Chamber Music America “New Jazz Works” grant. As a performer, Curtis has twice been selected for the Jazz Ambassador program by the US Department of State, and in 2020 was voted as a “Rising Star” in the DownBeat Critics’ Poll. As an educator, Curtis holds professor positions at the University of Hartford and the University of Rhode Island. As a producer, Curtis holds a GRAMMY nomination for his work on Entre Colegas by Andy González. Now, after honing his craftsmanship in every area of musicianship, Curtis embarks on a journey near and dear to his heart with Cubop Lives!, an album that stands as the culmination of his work as a composer/arranger, performer, and educator steeped in the Afro-Cuban Jazz tradition.
Cubop Lives! is an album born from a passion of the heart. As a musician who is so deeply steeped in the Jazz and Bebop tradition and so vivaciously immersed in the worlds of Afro-Cuban Jazz, Curtis found himself wanting to pay homage to the great musicians in whose steps he has trod who brought together the distinct fusion of these musical cultures. “I wanted to make a period piece album that brought a new perspective to an older style – one that wasn’t covered the way I thought it could be,” Curtis says. “Cubop Lives! points out the earliest “jazz fusion” and the combination of cultures that related to each other socially, politically, and, of course, musically.” Curtis’s love for the genres led not only to his meticulous curation of the pieces – both historical and original – but to the intentional selection of the band itself. “It takes musicians that have mastered their craft and understand complex jazz concepts and form,” Curtis says. “Only a handful of people can pull off this style of music as they do. These arrangements were developed to highlight each individual’s unique voice.” The album’s personnel list includes a cast of heavy hitters within the world of Afro-Cuban Jazz: Willie Martinez (drums, voice, timbales), Camilo Molina (percussion), Reinaldo De Jesus (percussion, drums), and the bandleader’s brother, Luques Curtis (bass).
