After settling in New York in 2005, Mr. Curtis has played regularly with L. Benjamin, Christian Scott, Donald Harrison, Eddie Palmieri, Brian Lynch, Abraham Burton, Ralph Peterson, Avery Sharpe and many other musicians.
From the beginning of his career, he was accompanied by success in various jazz competitions. In 2003-2006, the musician won laurels in the American Association of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Young Jazz Composers Competition, later won a scholarship for original composition in Connecticut, and in 2017 - a "Chamber Music America" scholarship for jazz creation.
The pianist's quartet twice became the US jazz ambassador - the US State Department sent him to perform in Bangladesh, Calcutta, Bangalore, Mumbai, Sri Lanka, Maldives.
Z. Curtis composes and arranges music for his quartet and trio, as well as artists Little Johnny Rivero, Steve Kroon, Sonido Solar. He has released six albums with his bands and produced Andy Gonzalez's Grammy-nominated Entre Colegas album. Z. Zaccai, together with his brother, founded the record company "TRRcollective", bringing together authors who produce and release their music together.
Curtis also created The Riff: Music News, a mobile music news app that is available for free on iTunes and Android. The musician is the author of two jazz textbooks and currently teaches jazz disciplines at the University of Hartford and Rhode Island. In the 2020s Downbeat critics dubbed him a "Rising Jazz Star".
