Alex Alvear and Mango Blue

Alex Alvear and Mango Blue blend an exciting mixture of musical styles to create a refreshing new sound in Afro-Latin and world music, featuring songs of celebration and social conscience. This high-powered, all-original music ensemble has delighted audiences and promoters alike throughout the Americas with its infectious sound. Led by Ecuadorian composer, bassist, and singer Alex Alvear, this invigorating hybrid playfully integrates a wide array of influences, from R&B, jazz, and funk to Caribbean roots, with a strong rhythmic foundation that draws from diverse Afro-Latin musical traditions. This stylistic fusion results in music that transcends ethnic boundaries, providing a new color to the Latin music palette.

The members of this band hail from various countries, including Venezuela, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, the US, and Ecuador, and are among the best instrumentalists in the region. Alvear's credits include recordings and performances with internationally acclaimed artists such as Celia Cruz, Orlando "Puntilla" Rios, Paquito D'Rivera, Larry Harlow, AfroCubism, Isaac Delgado, Jimmy Haslip, Jonatha Brooke, Raul Midón, and Israel "Cachao" López, to name a few. Two productions Alvear has participated in have been nominated for Grammys, including Paquito D'Rivera's Paquito D'Rivera Presents: Las Hermanas Marquez and Gonzalo Grau's Frutero Moderno.

Alex Alvear and Mango Blue have performed extensively in concert halls, festivals, and clubs nationally and internationally. Some notable performances include CAPA's New Haven Jazz Festival (sharing the stage with Dee Dee Bridgewater), Severance Hall (Cleveland), The Savannah Onstage Festival, Blue Frog (Mumbai, India), Teatro Nacional Sucre y Plataforma del MAAC (Ecuador), New York's S.O.B.s, Makor, Village Underground, and the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, as well as the Berklee BeanTown Jazz Festival, Portland's Festival of Cultural Exchange, and Boston Symphony Hall's World Music Series.