Many of the younger set making waves in the jazz sea these days began their musical journey at Litchfield Jazz Camp and remain on faculty there. Opening the festival is rising-star vocalist Nicole Zuraitis. A 2019 Grammy nominee, she tours internationally, heads our Jazz Camp vocal programs each summer, and is helping to raise the next generation. Her bandmates here include protégé vocalist Anson Jones, pianist Jen Allen, bassist and member of the Eddie Palmieri band, Luques Curtis and Nicole’s husband and another 2019 Grammy nominee and leader of the Dan Pugach Nonet, drummer Dan Pugach.
THE BAND
NICOLE ZURAITIS – VOCALS: tours the US and Asia- along with her Grammy-nominated husband, DAN PUGACH – DRUMS with the Dan Pugach Nonet Plus 1. She is a prize-winning recording artist, singer/songwriter, and pianist performing solo and in various ensembles worldwide. She has been a member of the Litchfield Jazz Family since she appeared on our doorstep with her trombone at age 12 in 1997, the year we began. She now heads our vocal programs and is helping raise the next jazz generation.
JEN ALLEN – PIANO: Jen Allen performs regularly in New York, the Northeast and venues around the world as a leader and sideman. She has appeared at the Winnipeg Jazz Festival, Cambridge Festival of the Arts, Greater Hartford Monday Night Jazz Series, Wexford Performing Arts Centre (Ireland) and at Litchfield Jazz Festival. She has performed with Don Braden, Jimmy Greene, Kendrick Oliver, Freddie Hendrix, Nat Reeves, Kris Allen, Ike Sturm and Antoinette Montague among others. She composes for big bands, studio orchestras, and smaller ensembles. In 2017, she was commissioned to direct and arrange 10 pieces for Litchfield Jazz Festival Orchestra. She has degrees from The Hartt School and UMASS Amherst. Currently Assistant Professor at Trinity College, she is also Visiting Faculty at Bennington College. Jen has been a teaching artist at Litchfield Jazz Camp since 2010.
ANSON JONES – VOCALS: is a Princeton undergrad who also joined LJC at 12. She is a four-time recipient of Downbeat Magazine’s Student Music Awards for solo vocalist in jazz and blues. Her music spans a wide range of styles, weaving together pop, singer-songwriter, R&B, soul, jazz, and everything in between
LUQUES CURTIS _ BASS: a long-time member of Eddie Palmieri’s band, joined LJC at 12. Luques has been performing nationally and internationally with artists such as Eddie Palmieri, Ralph Peterson, Jr, Christian Scott, Gary Burton, and others. He is an owner and co-founder of independent jazz label Truth Revolution Records
