$15 at the Door 7:30pm Show
Hear music from Mamey's debut album, Quisqueya, which moves between driving Afro-Caribbean grooves, improvisation, and song. The album's original music is rooted in the shared musical traditions of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, reimagined through improvisation and live collaboration. The repertoire draws from Bamboulá, Sarandunga de Baní, Salve, Gagá, and Kompa, with songs in both Spanish and Kreyol.
Band members:
Julián Pujols-Quall - Piano / Keyboard / Vocals
Elijah Bradford - Guitar
Claudio Silva - Drums
Ryan Freitas - Saxophone
Mark Ligonde - Bass
“ [Julián] belongs to a generation of Dominicans in the diaspora who extend the nation’s musical traditions beyond its geographic boundaries with originality and disciplined artistry. Despite his relative youth, he has developed a remarkably mature theoretical and practical artistic ethos”
Plenamar magazine
Mamey, a 2024 South Arts Foundation Grantee, has been expanding the rhythmic and melodic frameworks of Dominican-Haitian musical traditions through a contemporary jazz lens since 2023. The group has performed throughout the United States and internationally in Belgium, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. Mamey’s 2026 debut album, Quisqueya, was awarded a Pathways to Jazz grant and was celebrated with a phenomenal Chicago pre-release concert this past June, featuring an international cast of musicians. At a moment when imagining the island as a shared cultural space can feel politically fraught, Mamey offers an alternative: music as a form of listening across differences.
Mamey was founded by Julián Pujols Quall, a Dominican-American pianist, improviser, composer, and curator from Chicago whose work bridges classical training with contemporary jazz, intercultural collaboration, and experimentation. After performing classical and jazz repertoire internationally, they found a long-term artistic home in improvisation and cross-cultural collaboration. A graduate of the Peabody Conservatory and First Prize Winner of the DePaul University National Concerto Competition, Julián´s creative practice has evolved since their early work with the Peabody Improvisers Collective, where they helped develop experimental collaborative programs that shaped their understanding of jazz as a space for dialogue, inquiry, and transformation.
