The musical trio, Duende has combined the talents of 3 professionally trained, accomplished, musicians to bring creative, original music to Puerto Vallarta. The goal of this musical trio is to give the audience new ways to think about the music. To imagine, create, arrange and share! The spirit of Duende is born of struggle and suffering. True creativity has this spirit flowing through its music, art and words.
The extraordinary blending of 8 instruments, including the 5 string cello (with a range from cello to bass), the 5 string violin (covering violin to viola), acoustic guitar and percussion (including various drums and some unique percussion instruments) create a remarkable sound with the goal of finding different melodies and rhythms and present them in new and creative ways.
On Friday, March 23rd, as Duende joined together with Argentinian duo, Bohemia Viva, we heard dramatic and enjoyable interpretations of familiar songs, like “Fragile,” “Dust in the Wind,” “Unchained Melody,” “Crying,” “ With or Without You” and “I Can See Clearly Now.”
With Luis Rascon on cello, flute (the thousand year-old sound of a Duduk) and drums, and Geo Ulrich on guitar, violin and vocals and Lilly Alcantara on percussion, Duende blended their talents with Bohemia Viva. Luis Lujan’s guitar and vocals and Andrea Mottura’s gorgeous voice thrilled the crowd as they joined with Duende. Lilly with her beauty, grace and joy was also riveting as a dancer! With breathtaking vocals and harmonizing mixed into the performance, this show completely captured the audience.
Spanish songs like, “Tu Quieres Volver,” “Besame Mucho” and “La Vie en Rose” were also performed beautifully. Luis Lujan sang his original song, “Morena,” to the audience’s delight! And Andrea and Luis astonished the crowd with their Spanish version of “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina.”
To create a full sound without back tracks, Duende uses state of the art synchronized double looping. We heard the melody in the background as the looping worked to create a complete sound.
As the show came to a close, with thunderous applause and a standing ovation, the artists were persuaded to perform one last number, the Paul Simon favorite,“ I Know What I Know.”
Duende and Bohemia Viva are amazing groups and in their show “Together” they were spectacular! We look forward to their new shows next season. You can still see Bohemia Viva in, ‘Sound Garden’ on Wednesdays at 6:30pm at Incanto Vallarta until mid April. Go to www.incantovallarta.com for more information.
‘A mysterious force that everyone feels, but no one can explain. The poet said, “The Duende is not in the throat. Duende surges up from inside – from the soles of one’s feet.” Musical ideas begin to coalesce into a structure that evolves, takes shape and then comes to life!
