Orbit | Updated: June 21, 2026
Born: December 25, 1981
Zaccai Curtis is an acclaimed recording artist and producer, recently honored with the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album. He leads his own groups, the Zaccai Curtis Quintet and Sonido Solar, and after five successful releases, is set to release his new album Sonoluminescence in 2026.
Together with his brother Luques, Zaccai co-founded the record label TRRcollective, a collaborative space for musicians to produce and release their own music. He is also proud to have produced the Grammy-nominated album Entre Colegas by Andy González (2016).
A native of Connecticut, Zaccai moved to New York City in 2005, where he has performed with renowned artists including Christian Scott, Donald Harrison, Cindy Blackman Santana, Eddie Palmieri, Lakecia Benjamin, Brian Lynch, the Mambo Legends, Avery Sharpe and many others.
In addition to his performance career, Zaccai is a respected educator, teaching at the University of Hartford's Jackie McLean Jazz Studies Division. He is also an author, having written two instructional books: Art of the Guajeo and Theory of the Common Voicing, which support students in their Jazz and Latin Jazz studies.
A three-time ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award winner, Zaccai is a prolific composer and arranger for his own groups, as well as artists like Little Johnny Rivero, Steve Kroon, Waitiki 7 and Sonido Solar. His quartet was chosen by the U.S. State Department for the American Music Abroad (Jazz Ambassadors) program twice, touring South Asia in 2006. In 2007, he received the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism's Artist Fellowship for original composition. In 2017, he was awarded the Chamber Music America's New Jazz Works grant, and in 2020, he was named Rising Star in the DownBeat Critics Poll.
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Continue ReadingLatin Jazz Conversations: Zaccai Curtis (Part 4)
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The Latin Jazz Corner by Chip Boaz
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Latin Jazz Conversations: Zaccai Curtis (Part 3)
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The Latin Jazz Corner by Chip Boaz
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Latin Jazz Conversations: Zaccai Curtis (Part 2)
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The Latin Jazz Corner by Chip Boaz
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Latin Jazz Conversations: Zaccai Curtis (Part 1)
Source:
The Latin Jazz Corner by Chip Boaz
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