Slow and Steady DID Win The Race
Gradual pursuit of what Dan Pugach heard in his head ended up in a Grammy
Connecticut’s own husband/wife Grammy winners, Dan Pugach and Nicole Zuraitis, celebrate Dan’s 2025 award for best large ensemble jazz album for Bianca Reimagined. Nicole’s Where Love Begins won the 2024 award for best jazz vocal (photo courtesy Dan Pugach)
It’s not a particularly rare occasion for jazz fans in Waterbury, CT to get an opportunity to see drummer Dan Pugach in concert – Dan is, after all, married to Waterbury native and vocalist Nicole Zuraitis, and they live in West Haven. So the occasional gig in the area is to be expected.
But the lucky fans who will be headed out to Waterbury’s Poli Club Friday night will be treated to two new opportunities – it will be the first time Dan will bring his big band to the Palace Theater’s club, and the crowd will be able to personally congratulate him for his new Grammy award.
At press time, the early show was sold out, but there were still tickets available for the second show.
That’s right, Dan’s 2024 release Bianca Reimagined: Music for Paws and Persistence, created out of the couple’s love to raise awareness for rescuing dogs with nearly no hope left, took the Grammy for best large jazz ensemble album in February. Coincidentally or not, Dan’s award followed Nicole’s Grammy last year for her How Love Begins album in the best jazz vocal category (Nicole funded the album herself, but to give you an idea of the respect she and Dan already had in the community, it was co-produced by Christian McBride).
But here’s the thing about Dan and Nicole – you know, you think “Grammy” and you think glitter and glitz and Taylor Swift and Beyonce and billion-dollar tours. But Dan and Nicole are bedrock members of the Connecticut jazz community. The first time the 8495Jazz staff saw them after the Grammy telecast was at a Tuesday night tip jar jam at Carmine’s in East Hartford. The jam was established by bassist Matt Dwonszyk in memory of saxophonist Paisley Ramirez, who wanted to give student musicians an opportunity to hear and play with the best. Like Dan and Nicole.
The day 8495Jazz spoke with Dan, he was headed out from home – they moved back to Nicole’s home state from New York during the pandemic – to go to a rehearsal in the Hartford vicinity with Matt, pianist Jen Allen, and vocalist/trumpet player Leala Cyr.
So, no, the Grammy did not go to his head. It was, he said, more of a personal acknowledgment that his work ethic and sense of growth as a musician, pursued slowly and steadily over a course of years, vindicates his vision, or more correctly, perhaps, the sound he has heard in his head.
“I’m actually happy that things don’t happen overnight like THAT,” he said, snapping his fingers, “because that’s not what we’ve been working toward. If you’ve met Nicole, you’d realize that there are many things to our slow game of 20 years building relationships, being kind to other people, those ahead of us and those who are younger and coming up. We are not in the pop world, we are playing creative music that is very personal.
“It’s more of a personal milestone rather than that people are now knocking on my door,” he said. “If I could say that to younger musicians who are aspiring to get ahead – it doesn’t change overnight. It does something to you in terms of acknowledgment of the hard work, and it’s a milestone to be able to look back and say hey, this is bigger than I had thought and it is possible – you don’t need to be bought by huge labels and PR firms.”
And to think, when he first arrived in New York he was just looking to be part of the scene. A native of Israel and veteran of the Israel Defense Forces’ jazz band, he moved to Boston in 2006 and got his bachelor’s degree from Berklee College of Music. Then, along with several of his Berklee buds, he moved to New York, started studying for his master’s at City College, and just wanted to live the jazz life – but he learned quickly that just hanging out wasn’t for him.
“I realized first I had to focus and create opportunities for myself and not just go to Smalls every night until 4 and hope someone would call me for a gig. So I started experimenting with that 9-piece ensemble when I was at City College getting my masters.”
It was an assignment to write and arrange for a nonet from one of his City College mentors, Mike Holober, that first gave him the idea he could indeed create music for a bigger ensemble, but still keep the immediacy of a smaller combo in the sound.
“I hadn’t planned to be a bandleader/composer/arranger with all the headaches, but it paid off because I stuck to it,” he said. “Then I continued with the big band, which was really the sound I was hearing in my head, growing up listening to the Thad Jones & Mel Lewis Big Band.
“I want to play a big band but treat it as if it’s a trio – give the band members a lot more room to express themselves, not just be a rigid ‘I’m a composer and you will play this’ kind of guy.”
His 2018 debut album for the nonet, Plus One, grooved like a shiny main line rail, and yielded a Grammy nomination for best arrangement for instruments/vocals for the cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” – which, he said, debuted publicly at the Poli Club.
After Plus One’s release, though, it was time to get the lunchpail and put in some trenchwork.
“To support a band and survive doesn’t always work,” he said. “So I had to take a break from the nonet and go out and play and get students and wedding gigs and any gigs that paid – and I am not ashamed of that. A lot of jazz musicians pretend they are above it and pretend they can live a life and save for retirement and a rainy day just by playing 70-dollar gigs at jazz clubs. They are not telling each other the truth and that hurts the scene.
“So I took a break, did a lot of work, and got the itch for more originals, and moved toward the big band – which was not a goal, but kind of a dream – and now knock on wood, dream come true.”
And, while he downplays the commercial ramifications of the Grammy win, even a cursory glance at their itineraries will show you Dan and Nicole are very much in demand. When 8495Jazz spoke with Dan, Nicole was in Europe singing with the Danish Radio Big band. So local gigs may become a little more rare, though Dan’s itinerary has shows in Cheshire, CT (July 25), the Butler-McCook House in Hartford August 14, and for those who want to plan well, well ahead, at December’s Manchester Jazz Festival. And there’s another trip back into the studio with Christian McBride planned.
While Nicole was in Europe, Dan was doing the blocking and tackling of a bandleader’s life, conferring with New England Arts and Entertainment owner Mike Gow about how to fit the big band onto the Poli Club stage, hanging out with Dolly, the latest beneficiary of the Pugach-Zuraitis doggy love dynamic, and expressing surprise that the 8495Jazz staff had yet to visit the renowned Brooklyn Bakery on Waterbury’s east side.
“You don’t know Brooklyn Bakery? It’s one of our favorite doughnuts!”
Spoken like a regular guy from Connecticut, a regular guy with two Grammys on the shelf.
The Dan Pugach Big Band, featuring Dan’s wife Nicole Zuraitis on vocals, perform one of their best-known songs, Dan’s arrangement of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” They debuted the song at Waterbury’s Poli Club, where they will be appearing Friday night.
Out and About with 8495Jazz
To alleviate confusion, ticket prices quoted now mention service fees as included or as additional; if fees are not mentioned, there are none to our knowledge. Because fees differ according to ticket type, service fee amounts are not included here but are available on venue web sites.
These listings are a curated sampling of shows in the region. As an independent resource for jazz news, 8495Jazz does not receive any consideration, free tickets, or affiliate fees for these listings. Please confirm events are still happening directly with the venue.
8495Jazz Wild Card Gig of the Week
The Falcon, Marlboro, NY
Nels Cline Consentrik Quartet, Friday, April 11, 7:30 pm. $30 suggested donation.
Other Shows This Week
SHU Community Theater, Fairfield, CT
Jerry Bergonzi Quintet (saxophone, combo), Tuesday, April 8, 8 pm. GA $20.
VFW Post 399, Westport, CT
Steve Sandberg (piano, combo), Thursday, April 10, 7:30 and 8:45 pm. 7:30 show $20.76 adult, $15.76 students, 8:45 show $10.76.
The Parlour, Providence, RI
First Sunday Jazz jam w/Ben Shaw Quartet, today, 6 pm. Jam follows. $10 non-players, $5 jammers.
Elicit Brewing Co., Manchester, CT
Hartford Jazz Orchestra, Monday, April 7, 7:30 pm. Free.
Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT
Tomeka Reid (cello, combo) Tribute to Ellington, Friday, April 11. 8:30 pm ($20) and 10 pm ($15).
The Side Door, Old Lyme, CT
Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet, Friday, April 11 and Saturday, April 12. 8 pm. GA $59.75 including service fee, students $27.98 including service fee.
Jams
Cafe Nine, New Haven CT
New Haven Jazz Underground jam, usually 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month: free admission
Saturday jazz jam most Saturdays, 4 pm. Free.
Blackeyed Sally’s, Hartford, CT
Jazz Wednesdays, featured set 7 pm, jam session afterward.
Carmine’s, East Hartford, CT
Paisley’s All Star Memorial Jam, 3rd Tuesday of the month, 7:30 pm. House band set followed by jam. Free.
Jazz Societies and Organizations (great info on events, festivals, and more)
Jazz Society of Fairfield County
Jazz Fridays at Three Sheets New Haven 1st/3rd Fridays from 6-9pm
Jazz Thursdays at The Cannon New Haven every other Thurs from 7-9pm.
8495Jazz takes its name from the two Interstate highways that cross our region, I-84 and I-95. Within short driving distances from either, you can find incredible entertainment, from local jams to world-famous festivals in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. 8495Jazz: From Newburgh to Newport!
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