Yale Undergraduate Jazz Collective Jazz Festival: Jeff Fuller & Friends with a Student Opener

Enjoy the YUJC Jazz Festival’s 2nd event, a performance by Jeff Fuller & Friends opened with a short student act.

Whether performing, teaching, or composing, bassist Jeff Fuller brings great joy and a  wealth of experience to all his musical endeavors. One of the most sought-after jazz bassists in Connecticut, Fuller has also toured worldwide and recorded with saxophonists Lou  Donaldson and Paquito D’Rivera. He has played with jazz masters from all styles and eras including such diverse artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Mose Allison, “Papa” Jo Jones, and Gerry  Mulligan. In 2014, Fuller was presented with the annual Jazz Haven Award, “For all you have  done in presenting and preserving the culture and music of jazz.”

His current group, Jeff Fuller & Friends, features Darren Litzie on piano and Ben  Bilello on drums. Together they have released five albums featuring their original music: The  Call From Within (2014), Shoreline Blues (2016), Happenstance (2018), Round & Round  (2020) and their newest, Keep Hope Alive (2022).

Pianist/composer Darren Litzie studied jazz with Jim McNeely, Mike Holober, and  Jimmy Greene. He has performed with such artists as Andrew Beals, Chris Morrison, Thierry  Arpino, and Harvie S. Darren completed a three-year stint with the prestigious BMI Jazz  Composers Workshop, where he had several of his works premiered in concert by the BMI  Jazz Orchestra. He currently leads his own eight-piece jazz ensemble, “The Saxtet,” is an adjunct professor of music at Sacred Heart University, and has a new CD, “My Horizon,” on  Summit Records.

Ben Bilello studied at the Hartt School of Music with Glen Velez, Michael Carvin, and  Tony Leone. Since graduating, Ben has performed and recorded with Mulgrew Miller, Eddie  Henderson, Curtis Fuller, Joe Wilder, Branford Marsalis, Anthony Braxton, Javon Jackson,  Charles Flores, Steve Davis, Jimmy Greene, Josh Evans, Wayne Escoffery, and Dezron  Douglas/New Jazz Workshop, among many others. At this time, Ben can be seen performing with his own trio, Earl MacDonald’s Yankee Gumbo Ensemble, Atla & Matt DeChamplain, bassist Jeff Fuller, and many others.