Keyboard player Alex Chadsey was fluent in jazz and classical forms. He’d walked the usual, rigorous path of a conservatory-style music education. Then he wound up in Seattle, University of Michigan music degree in hand, not sure of what to do. The answer: Play in salsa bands, perfect his montuno, and learn how music creates community. Chadsey’s creative output changed dramatically, coming together in 2016 as a trio project Duende Libre. The following year the group released their debut album, which distills years of performing, apprenticing with master musicians, and crafting originals that explore Latin elements in new contexts. The results are savvy and grooving, reflecting the Seattle scenes Chadsey inhabits and loves, where Uzbek bassists and Jamaican poets and border-crossing fandangos power musical visions. Duende Libre features longtime collaborators Alex Chadsey (piano/keyboards/compositions), Farko Dosumov (electric bass) and Jeff “Bongo” Busch (drums & percussion). They are frequently joined by Frank Anderson (vocals/percussion/dance) and Chava Mirel (vocals). Duende utilizes the American jazz tradition as a point of departure for daring explorations of folk and classical music from the Americas, Europe and Africa, yielding catchy melodies, lush harmonies, and wholehearted groove. Their second album Drift (released Spring 2018) received an Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Award for “2018 NW Jazz Recording of the Year.”