Jeff Fuller & Friends
One of Connecticut’s most celebrated jazz musicians brings his quintet home to The Side Door.
Jeff Fuller, bass, composer
Haneef N. Nelson, trumpet, composer
Nigel Regan, saxophone
Darren Litzie, piano
Ben Bilello, drums
Jeff Fuller (bass, composer) brings great joy and a wealth of experience to his musical
endeavors whether performing, teaching or composing. A highly sought after jazz
bassist, his long has found him working as both leader and sideman with diverse groups
playing all styles of jazz. Fuller has toured worldwide and recorded with saxophonists
Lou Donaldson and Paquito D’Rivera, and has played with jazz masters from all eras,
including such historic artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Mose Allison, “Papa” Jo Jones, Gerry
Mulligan, and Clark Terry. His trio, featuring Darren Litzie on piano and Ben Bilello on
drums, has released five CDs of original music and standards. In 2014, he received the
Jazz Haven Award, “For all you have done in presenting and preserving the culture and
music of jazz.” In September 2026, Fuller & Friends will kick off Yale’s Duke Ellington
Fellowship concert series. Jeff’s Latin jazz arrangements, published by Three-Two
Music, are frequently performed by college jazz ensembles. He is a graduate of Yale
College and the Yale School of Music. Fuller plays the Upton Concord bass.
Haneef N. Nelson (trumpet, composer) is a performer, educator, and
composer/arranger based in Hartford, CT. He continues to make his mark in jazz and
beyond. He’s also an arts advocate and concert producer. Haneef currently serves as
the Professor of Jazz Trumpet at UMass Amherst and Western Connecticut State
University, Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Greater Hartford Arts Council
and has been managing the Jazz Jam Session at Black Eyed Sally’s for over a decade.
He has performed with various musicians and groups including: Charles Tolliver, Bill
Saxton, William Cepeda, Wilson “Chembo” Corniel, Nat Reeves, Steve Davis, Jesse
Hameen, Helen Sung, Wayne Escoffrey, Kris Allen, Abraham Burton, E.J. Strickland,
Brandee Younger, Dezron Douglas, Stacey Dillard, Zaccai Curtis, Luques Curtis, Jimmy
Greene, Danton Boller, Justin Robinson, Jeremey Manasia, Gary Smulyan, Josh Evans,
Doobie Powell, Billy “Church Boy” Powell, Kevin Powell, Ace Livingstone, and Musiq
Soulchild among others. Haneef N. Nelson is a Bach Artist.
Nigel Regan is a saxophonist, composer, and educator born and raised in the New
Haven area. After receiving a Bachelor of Music in jazz studies from the Jackie McLean
Institute of Jazz, Hartt School of Music, Nigel received his Master of Music in jazz
studies from the University of North Texas, where he was a Teaching Fellow and played
lead alto saxophone in the internationally renowned, 7-time Grammy nominated One
O’Clock Lab Band. He is featured on flute, alto and soprano saxophone on their album
“Lab/24.” Nigel has played with Miguel Zenon, Helen Sung and Steve Davis, among
others, and is currently a teaching artist at the Neighborhood Music School in New
Haven, where he began his jazz journey as a young man. During his high school years,
he was an outstanding soloist with Jeff Fuller’s Premier Jazz Ensemble at NMS and
frequently played with celebrated percussionist Jesse Hameen II.
Pianist/Composer Darren Litzie holds a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from The Hartt
School’s Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz and a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance
Degree from Western Connecticut State University. He has performed and recorded
with artists such as John Riley, Dave Santoro, Mike DiRubbo, Jeff Fuller, Frank Basile,
Harvie S, Phil Palombi, Marlene VerPlanck, and Tom Melito. An avid composer, Darren
completed a three-year stint as a member of New York’s prestigious BMI Jazz
Composers Workshop, in which several of his works were selected to be premiered in
concert by the BMI Jazz Orchestra. As a recording artist, Darren has appeared on six
records as a sideman, and his debut record, My Horizon, was released in June 2022 on
Summit Records. Since 2013, Darren has served as an Adjunct Professor of Music at
Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT, where he teaches music classes and piano
lessons.
Ben Bilello studied percussion 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
Ben has been an active educator for over twenty years. He is a former faculty
member of the Artists Collective, Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, and the
Litchfield Jazz Camp. Ben has given clinics and lectured at many of New
England’s high schools, colleges, and universities. Currently, Ben is a faculty
member at Choate Rosemary Hall and Manchester Community College
