Zaccai Curtis – Cubop Lives! – TR Collective
Zaccai Curtis pays forward the lineage of Afro-Cuban Jazz on Cubop Lives!. Zaccai Curtis is a multi-faceted pianist for whom every side of his work gleams. Equal parts performer, composer, educator, and producer, he vibrantly showcases his mastery of both the Jazz and Afro-Cuban Jazz lineages. Curtis holds professor positions at the University of Hartford and the University of Rhode Island, and as a producer, Curtis has been nominated for a GRAMMY 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.
Gregory Groover – Lovabye - Criss Cross Jazz
Gregory Groover’s Criss Cross debut, recorded on the Boston born-and-bred tenor saxophonist’s thirtieth birthday, is a tour de force. Joined by a bespoke sextet of his favorite players, all New York-based, Groover presents a recital of 11 original tone-parallels to family and friends, his intentions anticipated, illuminated and fulfilled by his gifted bandmates. Groover had generated a group of “love songs and songs of people I love.” In spring 2023, he brought this music to Walter Smith III, who Groover had idolized as a teenager, and is now his friend and colleague at Berklee School of Music, their mutual alma mater, where Groover serves as Assistant Chair of the Ensemble Department. “I told Walter I’d like to play with some of my other heroes and peers,” Groover recalls. “He said, ‘What’s stopping you? The music is there.’ Luckily for me, everyone who I wanted to record with was available and happy to do it.” The Album was recorded August 16, 2023 at the GSI Studios, NYC. Producer Walter Smith III. Recording engineer Chris Allen. Sound engineer Mike Marciano did the mixing and mastering at Systems Two in NYC. Line up: Gregory Groover Jr. – tenor saxophone / Joel Ross – vibraphone / Aaron Parks – piano / Vicente Archer – bass / Matthew Stevens – guitar / Marcus Gilmore – drums.