Duende Quartet

The Duende Quartet is devoted to playing Latin Jazz in the style of Mongo Santamaria, Cal Tjader and Willie Bobo with a nod to the Blue Note sound of the’60’s. In a unique small group setting (with piano as the lead instrument) Duende Quartet captures the vibe of the jazz combo while using the rhythms of a Cuban conjunto. Duende has a vast repertoire ranging from traditional Cuban songs to modern jazz compositions.

Duende, a word of Andalusian origin literally meaning goblin or imp, is sometimes described as the indefinable, magical power of creativity that results in a work of art, or simply as soul. Kenneth Tynan used the term duende to describe the understated music of jazz pioneer Miles Davis, and defined it as "...the ability to transmit a profoundly felt emotion with the minimum of fuss and the maximum of restraint." Duende is a musical value that has inspired all of us in this quartet.

The Duende Quartet features Harry Appelman on piano & keyboards, Josh Schwartzman on bass, and Sam Turner and Mark Merella on percussion.

The Duende Quartet, composed of pianist/keyboardist Harry Appelman, bassist Josh Schwartzman, and percussionists Mark Merella and Sam Turner, was chosen by Jazz at Lincoln Center as one of six jazz quartets to tour abroad in 2007, under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State’s American Music Abroad program. Formerly known as the Jazz Ambassadors, this program has hosted such legendary musicians as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie. Duende recorded this CD just after returning from their successful tour of Turkey, Albania, Cyprus and Bosnia in February 2007.

Harry Appelman

Playing music has taken Harry Appelman to five continents, most recently to Egypt in February 2008 with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. In addition to the Duende tour, he was chosen to participate in an earlier U.S. State Department sponsored tour of South and Central America in 2002. Harry has toured with the Woody Herman Orchestra and the Artie Shaw Orchestra. He was a finalist in both the 1987 and 1988 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competitions and one of three prizewinners in the 1989 Great American Jazz Piano Competition. Harry has performed in small groups led by Eddie Daniels, Gary Thomas, George Garzone, Jerry Bergonzi, Jim Snidero, Valery Ponomarev, Brian Lynch, Don Braden, Vincent Herring, Jack Wilkins and Walt Weiskopf, among others.

Mark Merella

Mark Merella is a drummer/percussionist currently working in the Baltimore/Washington area. He has performed with a wide variety of artists in the Jazz and Latin fields including Fred Foss, Rene McLean, Steve Turre, Ray Vega, Steve Berrios and many others. He has performed at the Kennedy Center, the White House, the Smithsonian and many other prominent venues. Mark is also an avid educator and currrently co-leads the group Mosaic.

Josh Schwartzman

Josh is best known as founder, bassist and contributing arranger and composer for Rumba Club since its inception seventeen years ago. He can also be found performing in a variety of musical settings playing acoustic bass, Ampeg Baby bass or piano. Josh studied at the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, New York in the early eighties and lived in Spanish Harlem where his interest in Latin music was nurtured. For several years, Josh studied arranging and composition privately with the late Dr. Asher Zlotnik, of the Peabody Institute of Music. He has shared the stage with well-known jazz and Latin musicians alike (Tito Puente, Billy Higgins, Giovanni Hidalgo, David Williams, Nestor Torres, Jon Faddis).

Sam Turner

This highly esteemed percussionist, from New York City, has worked nationally and internationally with legends such as Machito, Frank Sinatra, James Brown, Charles Mingus, Dexter Gordon, Freddie Hubbard, and many others. He may be best known for his 15-year long stint as sideman with Lionel Hampton, or his classic recordings with Monguito Santamar
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