As part of the Springfield Jazz & Roots Festival, pianist and composer Zaccai Curtis will lead an interactive workshop exploring the roots, rhythms, and cultural significance of Afro-Caribbean music and jazz. This session gives festivalgoers a chance to move beyond listening alone and into a deeper understanding of the traditions, histories, and musical ideas that shape Curtis’s work.
Known for bringing together Afro-Cuban musical language, bebop, and modern jazz expression, Curtis approaches music as both a living art form and a cultural lineage. In this workshop, he will guide participants through some of the rhythmic concepts, harmonic structures, and improvisational practices that connect Afro-Caribbean traditions with the broader story of jazz.
Through live demonstration, explanation, and audience participation, attendees will get a closer look at how these musical forms developed, how they speak to one another, and why they continue to matter. The workshop will highlight the deep influence of African diasporic traditions on jazz, with particular attention to Afro-Cuban rhythm, jazz harmony, and the social histories that have shaped both.
Rather than presenting these ideas in a distant or overly technical way, the session is designed to feel direct, engaging, and welcoming — offering audiences a chance to hear the building blocks of the music in real time and to experience some of them together. Participants can expect a lively, interactive format that brings musical concepts to life through performance, breakdown, and conversation.
Curtis will help illuminate how rhythm, movement, structure, and improvisation work inside the music, while also connecting those elements to larger cultural histories of migration, exchange, creativity, and resilience across the African diaspora. Whether someone comes with a musical background or simply with curiosity, the workshop is meant to open the door wider: to help people hear more, understand more, and feel more connected to the artistic foundations behind the performance.
By pairing the workshop with Curtis’s festival appearance, Springfield Jazz & Roots continues its commitment to creating experiences that connect performance with cultural learning, public dialogue, and community engagement. The result is a fuller festival experience — one that celebrates virtuosity and joy while also making space for history, understanding, and shared discovery.
