Mamey is a project dedicated to honoring and reimagining traditional Dominico-Haitian music. Since 2023, Mamey has performed internationally and received a 2024 South Arts Foundation Grant to perform in underserved Latine community centers in the East Coast. Mamey centers Dominico-Haitian musical traditions as a foundation for new improvisational and compositional work, contributing in a meaningful way to strengthening cultural ties between the two countries.

Centered on Julián´s original compositions, the works are inspired by Dominican and Haitian styles like Bamboulá, Sarandunga de Baní, Salve, Gagá, Kompa, and Dembow, reinterpreted through a improv/compositional expansion of the rhythmic, melodic and communicative frameworks within these styles, in many ways drawing inspiration from jazz’s progression from American folkloric styles. This experimentation has guided the development of Mamey as a cultural laboratory that explores the intersections of Dominican and Haitian musical traditions with contemporary forms of jazz and experimental composition.

 

Mamey's debut album, scheduled for late Spring 2026, will bring together musicians from Chicago, Baltimore, New York, and the Dominican Republic, as well as young voices from Jazz Power Initiative in NYC and Uniting Voices from Chicago. 

 

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