In 2013, guitarist/educator and Litchfield Jazz Camp faculty member, Doug Munro proposed to arrange for Big Band Django Reinhardt’s gypsy-inspired music for Litchfield Jazz Festival. With this we launched the first performance of Litchfield Jazz Orchestra.   Its been a feature ever since with its personnel drawn from Camp faculty members and a select students.

For the 2018 Festival we have invited Zaccai Curtis, award-winning pianist/composer/arranger/and record company co-founder (Truth Revolutions Records with brother Luques)—and, you guessed it, Litchfield Jazz Camper from back in the day.  Zaccai has created the first Latin jazz program for the LJO. He’ll salt favorites with originals, some of which led to his winning the prestigious Doris Duke/ Chamber Music America New Works grant.

After graduating from New England Conservatory in 2005 with a Masters degree, Zaccai moved to New York City where he performs regularly with Donald Harrison, Cindy Blackman Santana, Eddie Palmieri, Christian Scott, Ralph Peterson, T.K. Blue, Brian Lynch, Ray Vega, Eric Person, and others. Curtis composes and arranges for his own quartet, trio, Big-Band and more. In 2003, he won the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer’s Competition and received the honor each year through 2006. The Curtis Brothers Quartet was selected by the U.S. State Department to participate in the American Music Abroad (Jazz Ambassadors) program for two tours in 2006. He  was also awarded the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism’s Artist Fellowship.

Zaccai performs his own music with the Curtis Brothers Quartet and recently released Syzygy (2017) following three successful releases: A Genesis, Blood Spirit Land Water Freedom and Completion of Proof, all on his own Truth Revolution label.  Zaccai, along with brother Luques, has developed a recording collective of musicians who produce music on their own terms. He is proud to have produced a Grammy-nominated album, Entre Colegas, released on the label in 2016. This year, he created the first-ever music news app—TRRcollective—available on iTunes and android.

This year’s LJO personnel include: Director, arranger, piano, Zaccai Curtis; congas, Reinaldo De Jesus; bass, Avery Sharpe; Drums, Steve Johns; alto sax, Albert Rivera; tenor sax, Don Braden; bari sax, Andrew Hadro; trumpets, Dave Ballou and Jean Caze; trombone, Peter McEachern; vocals, Melinda Rodriguez.

This performance is supported in part by the New England Foundation for the Arts.