When you hear Damian Curtis play the piano, it’s hard to believe his claim that he isn’t even the best player in his family.

Mr. Curtis and his ensemble performed on Monday, December 8, in Hubbard Performance Hall. He brought along Haneef Nelson on the trumpet, Emmett Goods on trombone, Matt Downsyk on double bass, and Marcos Torres on percussion.  Each of these players, like Damian, has credentials that stretch far and wide. The event was sponsored in part by the Joseph Stookins Lecture Fund.

Mr. Curtis is a Connecticut-based pianist who performs various genres, including jazz, Latin jazz, salsa, and hip-hop, and he has performed with well-known musicians such as Jackie McLean and Eddie Palmieri.

Yet, if you ask Mr. Curtis, he is not the best piano player in his family. “Zaccai is … Zaccai for sure,” Mr. Curtis says of his brother. “Zaccai is one of my favorite all-time piano players to this day, and it’s crazy that he is my brother.”

Then there is their brother Luques. “He is one of baddest bass players in the world now,” Mr. Curtis said. “To play Latin jazz, jazz, salsa, to do what he does on that bass … the wide range of people he has played with.”

The brothers once played together in their own group. Now they have gone their separate ways but sometimes still get together to play. Damian will be on one side playing the piano, Zaccai on the other side playing the piano. “We do have some fun,” Mr. Curtis said.

He has been playing the piano since he was 4. “Music is everything,” Mr. Curtis said. “It keeps me humble, it keeps me motivated, it keeps me moving forward.”

Music, Mr. Curtis said, “is a teacher in itself. All the life lessons I’ve learned … and I’ll learn so much more.”

He learned many things in Hartford, Conn., at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts and the Hartt School of Music. So, too, did many people he has played with over the years. Mr. Downsyk was a student of Loomis Chaffee Jazz Ensemble Director Ken Fischer at the Academy of the Arts. Ken was among those in the audience for the performance on Monday.

“Ken was a great teacher,” Mr. Downsyk said. “It is always great to see Ken, and we’ve played together a lot over the years.”

Mr. Curtis’s nickname is King Solomon, which comes from his hip-hop days. In the Bible, King Solomon is known for his wisdom. “I was producing a lot and got it from a couple of guys who said I picked the right beats for them,” Mr. Curtis said. “They said, ‘He’s got the wisdom, he had the vibe. You have to go see him for the beats.’”

The beat had the students in Hubbard clapping along at one point.  

Music, said Mr. Curtis, strikes people in different ways. “Everyone takes a different piece from it depending on what is going on in their life,” he said. “I’ve had people come say, ‘I really needed this. Thanks for coming out to play.’” 

Which is exactly what was said many times after Mr. Curtis and his bandmates left the stage.