Julian Quall: Mamey

Julian Quall with Mamey
Chicago, IL
$8,330

About the Artist

The Mamey band is a project founded by Julián Pujols Quall in 2023 to showcase and honor traditional Dominican music. In July of 2023 Mamey toured Belgium playing for the Dominican and Spanish Embassies of Belgium as well as in the venerable club L’Archiduc, where each member of the band contributed original pieces based on Dominico-Haitian styles. Upon Julián moving back to Chicago after college, Mamey reformed thanks to the collaboration with Haitian-American bassist Micah Collier. Mamey played at the Jazz Showcase in August, the Dominican American Midwest Association in October, and will be featured in the World Music Wednesday series at the Old Town School of Folk Music in January.

The study of Dominican music lead the band to be interested in playing not only the popular styles, like merengue and bachata, but styles that are less known like Bamboula, Sarandunga de Bani, Salve, and Gaga, as well as styles that are very popular but not played in a live small ensemble context like Kompa and Dembow. With classical, jazz, and experimental/free influences, the pieces are able to morph into many different scenarios and draw from many different influences. “Catabalsie” is a great example of that, taking progressions from Liszt’s Piano Sonata while at the same time being inspired by the gospel jazz harmonies and melodies of Baltimore trumpeter Brandon Woody all put to a Dominican arrangement and rhythmic structure.
In deciding the musical purpose of the band the name Mamey immediately came to mind. Mamey is a fruit tree indigenous to the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean and it evokes the tenacity of humans and the complicated historic conditions that forge identity. Beautiful traditions, cultural fruits, have thrived for centuries despite oppression and injustice. Honoring this cultural resilience, we strive to promote new and vibrant art.

In Mamey, Chicago-based musicians Julián Pujols Quall, Micah Collier, Oscar Evely and Elijah Bradford come together to engage in collaborative composition, transcultural exchange and to further refine and define their musical identities.