Kwartetto Mambo is four composer-performers who dig each other’s music. Imagine the classic Latin piano-bass-congas trio, grooving and rhythmic. Add French horn for a soulful melodic flavor. Now, add some inventive contemporary jazz tunes, a little free improvisation, and imaginative rearrangements of pop standards.

John Clark (French horn) has performed or recorded with a wide variety of musicians, Gary Bartz, Carla Bley, Ornette Coleman, Gil Evans, John Faddis, Johnny Griffin, Dave Grusin, Jerome Harris, Jim Hall, Jimmy Heath, Anthony Jackson, Leroy Jenkins, Howard Johnson, Oliver Lake, Joe Lovano, Pat Metheny, Grachan Moncur, Gerry Mulligan, Jaco Pastorius, Rachel Z, Paquito D’Rivera, Mike Richmond, John Scofield, Frank Sinatra, Lew Solof, Spyro Gyra, David Taylor, Toots Thielemans, the Turtle Island String Quartet, McCoy Tyner, Glen Velez, Paul Winter Consort, Akiko Yano, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

Dan DeWalt (piano/trombone) has led the jazz group Green Mountain Mambo, was a founding member of the beloved world beat ensemble Simba, and is a trombonist with Latin big band Joe Velez y Creación. Dan’s live, original piano accompaniments for Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times” and other classic silent films have become must-see events in southern Vermont.

Wes Brown (bass) cut his professional teeth at age eighteen with two years on the road with legendary pianist Earl “Fatha” Hines. Wes went on to study music at Wesleyan College and to perform and record with Wadada Leo Smith, Fred Ho’s Afro-Asian Ensemble. He is an original member of royal hartigan’s Blood Drum Spirit, and performs with Matan Rubenstein and many other jazz artists. Wes has taught bass in several New England colleges.

Julian Gerstin (percussion) specializes in African and Caribbean traditions and popular styles, as well as jazz. His credits include stints with experimental jazz composer Joel Harrison, afrobeat legends Orlando Julius and Baba Ken Okulolo, Cuban folkloric ensemble Iroko Nuevo, Puerto Rican folklore ensemble Bomba de Aquí, and Dan’s Green Mountain Mambo. Julian’s group the JG Sextet, featuring his own world jazz compositions, recently released its third CD, Songbirds of the Deep Sea, on the Truth Revolution label. Julian also composes for theater and is at work on a new jazz project, Dr Julian’s Yes Yes.