Back in the ’70s, some jazz fusion acts, notably Flora Purim and Return to Forever, incorporated Latin-American rhythms and textures into their music. Too young to have experienced this trend the first time, Seattle keyboardist Alex Chadsey rediscovered that path with his band Duende Libre. A bass-drums-keyboards trio, Duende Libre puts a glossy finish on instrumental music that includes tantalizing bits of melody as well as compositional flair and echoes of past music from Cuba and the Caribbean.
