Once long
ago, there were no continents, nothing to divide the great mass of land.
Seattle-based trio Duende Libre’s tender, clever songs explore this notion,
charting the imaginary folds and roads of Pangea, the ebb and flow of the
world’s sounds.
Guided by
founder and bandleader, pianist Alex Chadsey, Duende Libre prove that what
drifted apart can drift back together, and that musical traditions are living
things and therefore constantly in flux. The Puget Sound and the Bosphorus,
Cuba and Jamaica overlap and inform one another in pieces that wed jazz concepts
with pop pleasures on Drift (release June 15, 2018; release celebration: June
29, 2018), the group’s second album.
“We draw
influences from many different cultures and countries and parts of the world,
and the album’s title is a tribute and invocation of these influences,”
explains Chadsey. “We explored using different rhythmic feels and styles as a
way to meld those sensibilities. That’s what I was going for: a musical pangea
where borders become less rigid, and where surprising new sounds emerge in the
grey areas between traditions.”
Chadsey
comes by his global influences honestly. Growing up with an ear for music from
around the world, Chadsey developed a lifelong passion for Western classical
and jazz, including pieces like Chick Corea’s “Spain,” covered artfully on the
album by the trio joined by vocalist Chava Mirel. Chadsey applied his classical
and jazz training to Latin music as a member of the GRAMMY-winning Quetzal and
as a core player in roots reggae legend Clinton Fearon’s Boogie Brown Band.
Chadsey drew on these experiences and a lifetime of curious listening as he
embarked on his own project, tapping fellow open-eared Seattle musicians
bassist Farko Dosumov and drummer Jeff “Bongo” Busch to create an original
sound that Jazziz called “a strikingly authentic blend, one that has marked
their city as an epicenter for musicians who share an appetite for bridging
worlds.”
They take
full advantage of Seattle’s wealth of global musical talents. “Choro,” a piece
a few degrees removed from the Brazilian style, pays homage to Jovino Santos
Neto, a master pianist and composer whose work guided Chadsey. The grooving
“Kiki” tips the hat to the Cuban son of Cuban cuatro virtuoso Kiki Valera
Alarcon and La Familia Valera Miranda, his family’s long-standing band. Valera
invited Duende Libre to join him for a collaborative concert, part of a larger
series he was curating. “We did one gig together and I was so inspired by that
encounter,” recalls Chadsey. “I wrote the piece for him. We are drawing on
clave, but trying to do something different. I wanted to know what would happen
if I took traditional figures and chord progressions from Cuban son, which is
usually in four, and experimented with changing meters. It creates a whole
different feel and has been a fun challenge for us to play.”
Duende
Libre’s debut album sparked an extensive round of touring, taking them from
their hometown and as far afield as Alaska. They spent long hours on the road
together between gigs. The downtime had a musical upside, as the group became
more integrated and tighter. “It’s osmosis,” notes Chadsey. “You’re just
hanging out together more than you’re actually playing. You’re sitting in the
bus, hanging out with the people you meet. Time spent together on the road
impacts the music in interesting and surprising ways.”
New
directions coalesced for Duende Libre, and they took advantage of the momentum
to jump into the studio, resulting in Drift. They invited friend and fellow
Clinton Fearon bandmate, singer and songwriter Mirel to join them, adding her
voice’s lilting strength to several tracks including the ethereal “Zephyr.”
Busch and Chadsey put their heads together to shape the rhythmic push and pull
of the title track, “Drift,” which contrasts various nuances of the pulse and the
swing, the juxtaposition of triple and duple meter that is so integral to
African diasporic musics. Dosumov also contributed a piece to the album, the
bouncy, gritty “Subway.” “We are starting to have musical convos as a trio, or
quartet when Chava joins us,” says Chadsey. “To do that spontaneously is one of
the goals of any jazz artist, to be creating musical communion.”
This
communion has grown out of productive tensions between Chadsey, who loves to
engage with pop song forms and hooks, and the other members of the trio, in
particular Busch, who wants to open things up and push the boundaries. In the
end, Duende Libre strikes the balance between ear candy and experimentation.
“When I’m
writing a tune, I intentionally try to strive for something as melodic as
possible. But I’m not too attached to how the songs are arranged,” Chadsey
says. “When I bring them into the band, they go through different iterations,
experimenting with forms. Jeff has great arrangement ideas, in particular, and
he and I often agree to disagree. That’s the beauty of any relationship, the
opportunity to step out of your bubble. That’s where growth happens.”
By exploring
new territory where heritage, influence, and style can meet, Duende Libre
reenforce, in their own nuanced way within the jazz tradition, the ties that
bind our world, sonic and otherwise. “Everyone in the project really
understands and values music as a sacred way of connecting people across lines
of difference,” states Chadsey. “The imperative to connect has never been more
important than it is now, and music will keep us healthy and sane through these
turbulent times.”
