photo by Tré Davis
The piano trio is a format with a deep history in jazz music. There is Erroll Garner, Ahmad Jamal, Bill Evans and countless other historic trios. It’s the essence of jazz improvisation; Piano, Bass, Drums. And while the Zaccai Curtis Trio may not yet be enshrined in jazz history, in the Hartford jazz scene the Curtis name needs no introduction. The brothers have a synergy that has them of one mind. They can musically finish each other’s sentences. Mark Whitfield Jr. on drums added a youthful intensity that responded to all the complex changes and grooves laid down by the Brothers Curtis. He seems to be one of the family.
So it was for the grand finale of the 2020 Paul Brown Monday Night Jazz series, live-streamed. This event took place August 17, and that being the birthday of Luques Curtis makes it even more special. The trio breezed through a set-list of both originals and standards. Zaccai’s arrangements were full of complex rhythmic changes often latin influenced.
I have seen this trio “pre-pandemic”, and one thing missing was the ear-to-ear smiles and expressions of joy and delight that were hidden behind facemask as a result of this health crisis. Besides that cruel reality, this was an energetic, joyful end to a Paul Brown series that will go down in history as making the best of a difficult situation. The “Best” in this case was a virtual live-streamed showcase of the wonderful local talent we are blessed with in the Greater Hartford region.
If you missed this performance, you can see the entire show (and all 8 live-streamed events) at this link.
For a photo gallery of the entire Paul Brown Monday Night Jazz, including behind the scenes pics, click on this link.
