Zaccai Curtis – Cubop Lives! On Jazz Views
Zaccai Curtis – Piano; Willie Martinez – Drums, Voice, Timbales; Camilo Molina – Percussion; Reinaldo DeJesus – Percussion, Drums; Luques Curtis – Bass
Cubop is bebop stirred up with Afro-Cuban jazz rhythms, and in the hands of pianist Zaccai Curtis, it is a joy to behold.
Dizzy Gillespie, along with percussionist Chano Pozo, introduced Cubop in 1947 on George Russell’s ‘Cubana-Be ’and ‘Cubana-Bop.’ In 1948, Charlie Parker and Machito’s Cubop were recorded on Norman Granz’s Clef label.
Zaccai Curtis is a three-time ASCAP Young Jazz Composer winner. He has won Boston Music Awards. He won the Latin Jazz USA Outstanding Achievement Award. He has played with Donald Harrison, Brian Lynch, Ray Vega, Ralph Peterson, and Eddie Palmieri.
Curtis performed an amazing range of music on CUBOP LIVES! Besides turning ’Someday My Prince Will Come ’into a cha-cha-cha, there is Kenny Dorham’s ‘Minor Holiday ’from his Afro-Cuban album, Kenny Drew’s ‘Contour, ’and, maybe surprisingly, Scott Joplin’s ‘Maple Leaf Rag.’
At first, Curtis plays the ragtime classic pretty close to the way it was written. His Cuban percussionists try to make him sound like he is playing in Havana. Curtis noticed similarities to Afro-Cuban piano and ragtime. Curtis said Joplin’s right hand was close to the way Cubans played a montuno, a rhythmic call and response pattern that usually occurs toward the end of a piece.
