Zaccai Curtis & Ray Gallon: Solo Jazz Piano Concert

Zaccai Curtis and Ray Gallon in an  afternoon of solo jazz piano performance.  This event will be offered live and in-person on stage at the Vermont Jazz Center and will livestream by donation on our website and on the VJC Facebook page.  If you’re having trouble streaming here, please reload the VJC homepage.   In-person attendees are asked to be vaccinated (honor system) and wear a mask. 

Zaccai Curtis and Ray Gallon will be performing as part of a weeklong program where participants will focus on developing skills germane to solo piano jazz. The instructors are masters of the idiom. During this faculty concert they will demonstrate the importance of the left hand in creating interesting textures that provide contrast and excitement. A few left-hand piano techniques that concert goers will encounter are walking bass, stride bass and top-down harmonization. These techniques will be discussed in an after-performance Q and A facilitated by VJC Director Eugene Uman. Audience questions will be welcomed.

New to the VJC piano faculty is Zaccai Curtis; he has appeared on stage at the VJC with Ray Vega (2013) and Donald Harrison (2012). Curtis regularly performs with Donald Harrison, Cindy Blackman Santana, Eddie Palmieri, Christian Scott, Johnny Rivero, Matt Garrison, Ralph Peterson, Brian Lynch, Lakecia Benjamin, Ray Vega, and Chico Freeman amongst others. He leads the ‘Zaccai Curtis Afro-Cuban Jazz Quartet’ which has had five successful releases. Curtis is a three-time winner of the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer’s competition and his quartet was twice selected by the U.S. State Department’s Jazz Ambassadors program. As a Jazz Ambassador, Curtis performed in Bangladesh, Calcutta, Bangalore, Mumbai, Sri Lanka and Maldives. In 2007 he was deemed Artist Fellow by the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism. In 2017 Curtis received a Chamber Music America “New Jazz Works” grant. He currently teaches at the University of Hartford in the Jackie McLean Jazz Studies Division and at Williams College. His book “The Art of the Guajeo” edited by John Santos is scheduled for release in 2021. Curtis, along with his brother Luques, has developed a recording collective (TRRcollective). As such he produced the GRAMMY-nominated album Entre Colegas by Andy González in 2016 and Full Circle, a 2018 recording by piano legend Eddie Palmieri.

Ray Gallon has served as the VJC’s Summer Workshop piano instructor and accompanist for over a decade. He has recorded and toured the world with Ron Carter, Lionel Hampton, Art Farmer, T.S. Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Milt Jackson, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Wycliffe Gordon, Les Paul, Benny Golson. Frank Wess, Lew Tabakin, George Adams and the Mingus Big Band. He has performed at major jazz festivals and venues throughout North and South America, Europe, and Japan and has appeared in gala concerts at the White House and the Kennedy Center. Gallon has also accompanied many vocal greats, including Jon Hendricks, Chaka Khan, Sheila Jordan, Grady Tate, Nnenna Freelon, Gloria Lynne, Dakota Staton, Joe Williams, and Jane Monheit. Gallon leads his own trio and performs regularly in New York City. His debut recording as a leader, Make Your Move, was released this spring and includes David Wong on bass and Kenny Washington on drums. Gallon’s compositions have been recorded by T.S. Monk, the Harper Brothers and George Adams. His discography includes Lionel Hampton’s Grammy-nominated Cookin’ In the Kitchen, as well as releases with Helen Merrill and Ron Carter, George Adams, T.S. Monk and others. He has appeared on The Tonight Show and The Today Show as well as concert performances on BET-TV and NPR. Ray is on the faculty of City College of NY and the New School.

Come enjoy the VJC’s faculty show with two phenomenal pianists performing ½ hour-long solo piano sets followed by a Q&A, on Wednesday, August 11^th at 2:00 PM. Tickets are $10 at the door, free for workshop participants. Vaccinated attendees only (honor system), and please wear a mask. The VJC is grateful to David Williamson for offering scholarship support to the VJC Summer Program in honor of Nic Mattingly.

Schedule

Wednesday, August 11, 2020

2:00 – 3:30 pm EDT

Please also join us for the VJC’s first in-person jam in 18 months at the VJC from 8:00 – 10:00 pm EDT this same day.