Jazz Articles about Luques Curtis

About Luques Curtis

Album Review

Dave Schumacher & Cubeye: Agua con Gas

Read "Agua con Gas" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
March 18, 2026

As the name Agua Con Gas suggests, Chicago-born, New York-based baritone saxophonist Dave Schumacher and his Cubeye ensemble favor jazz with an unmistakable Latin accent. Schumacher's fourth album with the ensemble leans south of the border all the way, harbored in a sharp and buoyant rhythmic groove that suits them like the proverbial glove. Schumacher's brusque and brawny baritone leads the way on most numbers, kindling memories of such masters of the horn as Ronnie Cuber, Gary Smulyan, ...

Album Review

Lisa Hilton: Extended Daydream

Read "Extended Daydream" reviewed by Neil Duggan

by Neil Duggan
November 7, 2025

Lisa Hilton's success story continues with her 31st release, Extended Daydream. Her considerable body of work makes frequent chart appearances and measures streams in millions. She appears in various group formats, but on this occasion, the focus is on her quintet. That quintet is based around her longtime trio with bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Rudy Royston, augmented with the return of tenor saxophonist JD Allen, who has appeared on eight of Hilton's previous albums, along with another ...

Album Review

Darryl Yokley: Un Mundo en Soledad

Read "Un Mundo en Soledad " reviewed by Paul Rauch

by Paul Rauch
January 6, 2025

Composer/saxophonist Darryl Yokley's Sound Reformation recordings have always revealed a keen compositional sense for sound, mood-setting melodies that tell a story. One could easily describe his writing and playing style as lyrical, creating a narrative of sound without actual vocal or spoken word participation. Imagine then, a suite of tunes written lyrically in terms of melody, adding spoken word art inspired from one of the classic novels in literary history. Imagine even further, those words leaping from the pages of ...

Album Review

Lisa Hilton: Lucky All Along

Read "Lucky All Along" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
November 23, 2024

Throughout the course of her quietly triumphant, just south-of-the-spotlight, virtuoso career, pianist/composer Lisa Hilton has never actively pursued, Captain Ahab-like, the biggest fish in the sea. She has played alongside many of the biggies--Christian McBride, Antonio Sanchez, Nasheet Waits, Sean Jones, JD Allen--but finds the greatest comfort, harmony, and camaraderie among her long-standing rhythm mates: bassist Luques Curtis, drummer Rudy Royston and, for their third quartet recording, trumpeter Igmar Thomas. Hilton does a lot of pretty things with a simple Latin sway ...

Album Review

Lisa Hilton: Lucky All Along

Read "Lucky All Along" reviewed by Neil Duggan

by Neil Duggan
November 22, 2024

Another Lisa Hilton album, and for many the world seems a better place. Lucky All Along is the pianist's 30th release, proving that it can take a long time to be considered a jazz success story. Her blend of jazz, Latin, pop and blues means she counts the number of plays on streaming services in the millions and her albums bother the top of those charts which count radio plays and numbers of downloads. She is not considered particularly hip ...

Album Review

Josh Lawrence: Measured Response

Read "Measured Response" reviewed by David A. Orthmann

by David A. Orthmann
July 18, 2024

Art Hirahara's brief, cryptic solo piano intro to “Where Do We Go?," the opening track of trumpeter/flugelhornist Josh Lawrence's album, offers little indication of what immediately follows: Lawrence's warm-toned, delectable horn surrounded by relaxed, straightforward, middling-tempo swing courtesy of bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Rudy Royston. This intriguing transition sets the stage for a recording that establishes a loose continuity amid changes in mood and temperament. Measured Response encompasses an impressive stylistic reach. “A Tragic Tango Comedy" ...

Album Review

Zaccai Curtis: Cubop Lives!

Read "Cubop Lives!" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
May 29, 2024

Pianist Zaccai Curtis's recent album Cubop Lives! is a vibrant acknowledgement of the rich legacy of bebop and Afro-Cuban jazz offering a compelling blend that respects tradition while infusing it with a contemporary flair. Backed by a scintillating ensemble of top-flight exponents of the style, including bassist Luques Curtis, drummer Willie Martinez III, conguero Camilo Molina and on bongos Reinaldo De Jesus, the group dives into an extended track list of seventeen compositions comprising Curtis originals, bebop classics, American Songbook ...