The first person to give me a heads up about Zaccai Curtis's new album Cubop Lives! was Harry Sepulveda. Harry used to manage Record Mart, the astonishing Latin music store in the New York subway near the Times Square Shuttle. Not only did the store carry an enormous collection of Latin albums dating back to the early 1950s, including rare 45s, but also lots of great jazz.
Over the years, Harry and I became friends, and he routinely calls to hip me to great upcoming Latin releases. Or he sends them along by mail. I always take Harry's recommendations seriously. This one arrived weeks ago. Then came Lydia Liebman Promotions' package that included the CD. [Photo above of Zaccai Curtis, courtesty of Zaccai Curtis]
If you buy one album this year, make it this one. Trust me. It would be easy to say that Zaccai was influenced by Bud Powell, but that would be selling him short. Zaccai has multiple influences from a range of great jazz and Latin keyboardists, and he has distilled them all to create his own elegant style. On Cubop Lives!, Zaccai puts a Latin spin on 17 tracks that are enormously diversified. His technique is extraordinary, and his taste is exceptional. [Photo above of Luques Curtis by Mark Robbins]
Cubop—or Afro-Cuban jazz—began with Dizzy Gillespie's arrangement of Algo Bueno (Woody'n You) in 1942, followed by his collaborations with percussionist Chano Pozo in 1947 on George Russell's Cubano-Be and Cubano-Bop, and his Afro Cuban Suite written with Babs Gonzales, along with Charlie Parker's collaborations with Machito in 1948 for Norman Granz's Clef label. [Photo above of Willie Martinez III, courtesy of Willie Martinez III]
Zaccai takes on an enormous repertoire here, ranging from a glorious Woody'n You, a highly stylized cha-cha-cha on Someday My Prince Will Come and Hilton Ruiz's Jazzin' to Parker's Moose the Mooche, Kenny Dorham's Minor's Holiday (from his Afro-Cuban album) and Kenny Drew's Contour. Zaccai's seductive Latin bop attack makes each song a joy. There are two originals—Earl and Black Rice, and Zaccai even had the wit to take on Maple Leaf Rag with aplomb and a Latin tweak. [Photo above of Camilo Molina, courtesy of Camilo Molina]
Backing him on the album are his younger brother Luques Curtis on bass; Willie Martinez III on drums, voice and timbales; Camilo Molina on congas and pandeiro; and Reinaldo DeJesus on bongos, chekere and guiro. Just as impressive, the album is out on their own independent label, Truth Revolution. [Photo above of Reinaldo DeJesus, courtesy of Reinaldo DeJesus]
Trust me (and Harry and Lydia), Cubop Lives! is a knockout and a must-own.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Cubop Lives! (Truth Revolution) here and on most major streaming platforms.
JazzWax clips: Here's Woody'n You...
Here's Moose the Mooche...
And here's Minor's Holiday...
Bonus: Here's an hour and a half of Zaccai Curtis in action...
