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