
Jane Bunnett and Maqueque photo by Lauren Deutsch. L–R Tailin Marrero, Yissy García, Joanna Tendai Majoko, MaryPaz Fernández, Jane Bunnett, Dánae Olano.
Sunday, May 15, 6pm
The Triple Door
216 Union St
$20–24
BY HALYNN BLANCHARD
Five-time Juno Award winner and thrice-Grammy Award nominee Jane Bunnett returns to Seattle at The Triple Door with her renowned all-female Cuban ensemble Maqueuque. Maqueque blends scintillating Afro-Cuban rhythms, folkloric influences, and exhilarating jazz with soulful vocals from the group’s newest touring member: Toronto-based, Zimbabwean vocalist Joanna Tendai Majoko.
Bunnett’s path—one that has returned her to Cuba over one hundred times since her love affair with Cuba and Cuban music began in 1982—has often been unexpected, particularly in the case of the momentum behind Maqueque, an extraordinary cross-cultural investigation that the Canadian soprano saxophonist and flutist never intended to tour with.
Founded in 2014, Maqueue has since been recognized for two Grammy nominations, been featured on NPR’s Jazz Night in America, and voted a top-ten jazz group by the critics’ poll of DownBeat magazine. Most recently, the group held a residency at Birdland Jazz Club in New York.
The forming of Maqueque was in response to a longstanding disparity experienced by Bunnett wherein she’d mostly collaborated with men, especially instrumentalists. And in Cuba, opportunities for female talent were even more sparse (though about 70 percent of the students at Cuba’s musical conservatories are women). Bunnett paired up with world-renowned Cuban singer and founding Maqueque member, Daymé Arocena, to scout the country for other outstanding young female musicians. The result became an evolving group of early-career to more established players, who took the stage together under a name provided by Arocena’s grandmother, Maqueque, which translates in the Afro-Cuban language Lucumí to the “fiery energy spirit of a little girl.”
Maqueque’s strength lies in the individuality of the musicians’ voices enhanced by their collective syncopation. Lush harmonies are sung from four out of the six members, and instead of having one master drummer, Maquque has two. The polyrhythms feel natural thanks to percussionist MaryPaz Fernández, who studied with Oscar Valdés; and veteran of the Cuban music scene, Yissy García, who has had additional experience with David Sanborn and Roy Hargrove, and has been hailed as one the finest Cuban drummers of her generation.
“Even though we’re rooted in Cuban music, my foundation is jazz. The same with Joanna,” said Bunnet, referring to the band’s newest member: Toronto Arts Foundation’s 2021 “Emerging Jazz Artist,” Joanna Tendai Majoko, who was discovered through her singing of Charlie Parker solos.
“The connection within the culture, with Cuban music, as well as jazz, is that understanding of trust. We can go off, but everyone’s hypersensitive in their listening,” Majoko tells Downbeat. “It’s like you can be free and know that it’s all going to come together.”
Together, Bunnett and Maqueque have released three records and announced a fourth in the works. As with On Firm Ground (2019) and Oddara (2016), the new album will contain collaborative compositions.
The cross-generational band looks out for each other on the road, each performer continuing to grow and develop, and Bunnett being pushed as a bandleader. “When you dedicate yourself to the music, to the life of being a creative person,” said Bunnett, “there are no shortcuts.”
Recognizing this particular tour holds a different kind of weight, Bunnnet says the women she tours with give her a lot of energy. She reflects on women in the Ukraine and how they conduct their daily lives, calling them “superheroes.”
The Seattle lineup is Bunnett on soprano saxophone and flute; Fernández, congas and vocals; Tailin Marrero Zamora on acoustic and electric bass; Dánae Olano on piano; virtuoso drummer, García; and Tendai Majoko on vocals. Tickets at thetripledoor.net.