Zaccai Curtis Earns First GRAMMY® Nomination for Cubop Lives!
(Truth Revolution Recording Collective)
Cubop Lives! has been nominated for Best Latin Jazz Album at the 67th GRAMMY® Awards
“Curtis’s right-hand dazzles with flights of fancy, tempo changes, pulling back on the beat, while his left anchors the rhythm with panache.” – Jazz Views
“If you buy one album this year, make it this one.” – Jazz Wax
“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.” – All About Jazz
New York, NY – Pianist-composer Zaccai Curtis is celebrating his first-ever career GRAMMY® nomination for his new album Cubop Lives! in the Best Latin Jazz Album category. Cubop Lives!, released on Truth Revolution Recording Collective this Spring, is a vibrant homage to the Afro-Cuban Jazz and Bebop tradition, performed by the renowned rising star.
The 67th GRAMMY® Awards will take place on February 2, 2025.
“It is an honor to be a part of the Latin Jazz tradition and to be recognized among the greatest contributors to music. I offer heartfelt congrats to all of this year’s nominees, and I’m thrilled to be among them,” Curtis said.
Cubop Lives! spans 17 tracks, including originals by Curtis presented alongside interpretations of tunes by Noro Morales, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, and more. “I wanted to make a period piece album that brought a new perspective to an older style – one that wasn’t covered the way I thought it could be,” Curtis said. “Cubop Lives! points out the earliest of “jazz fusion” and the combination of cultures that related to each other socially, politically, and, of course, musically.”
Curtis’ diverse credits include Eddie Palmieri, Brian Lynch, the Mambo Legends, Abraham Burton, Ralph Peterson, Ray Vega, Lakecia Benjamin, Cindy Blackman Santana, and Avery Sharpe, among others. Deeply rooted in the Jazz and Bebop tradition and vibrantly immersed in Afro-Cuban Jazz, Curtis felt compelled to honor the legendary musicians who paved the way, blending these rich musical cultures into a unique fusion. The album’s title holds manifold meaning as it pays tribute to the music that has come before it. “Cubop” refers to the cultural and musical fusion of Cuban Music with Bebop.
Cubop Lives! has garnered high praise from critics and fans alike. DownBeat Magazine awarded the album four and a half stars, calling the project “not merely an excavation or evocation of the past” but “music [that] allows each curious generation to discover its hidden secrets,” and noted jazz critic Marc Myers praised Cubop Lives! as “enormously diversified” and Curtis’ technique and taste as “extraordinary” and “exceptional.” The album topped the national Jazz Week radio chart at #1 for four consecutive weeks, and continues to sit among the top 20.
Zaccai Curtis joins an esteemed list of nominees in the Best Latin Jazz Album category, including Michel Camilo & Tomatito, Donald Vega, Hamilton de Holanda & Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Eliane Elias, Horacio ‘El Negro’ Hernández, John Beasley & José Gola, and Chucho Valdés & Royal Quartet.