Celso Duarte

Celso Duarte (born June 1974, in Villarrica, Paraguay) is a virtuoso of Paraguayan harp and Mexican jarocho harp, arranger, singer, and multi-talented instrumentalist. Duarte has performed and recorded with Lila Downs since 1998 and has also accompanied and collaborated with other artists, including Susana Baca, Celso Piña, Plácido Domingo, Mariza, Ramón Vargas, Julieta Venegas, Wynton Marsalis, The Chieftains and Ry Cooder. As a solo artist, he has performed with his band at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Joe's Pub and other historic venues. His first solo album, "De Sur a Sur (From South to South)", was released in 2006.

Early years Duarte was born in Paraguay and raised in Mexico. He is the son of Celso Duarte González, one of Paraguay's leading harpists, and María Elena, a Mexican singer and pianist. His parents met in the 1970s while his father was touring Mexico with a folkloric ensemble.

Duarte was raised in a musical family and started playing music when he was five or six. He later recalled, "My family, they are musicians, too. I started with my brothers, playing like a game."

Musical career and style Duarte is a virtuoso on the Paraguayan harp and Mexican jarocho harp. In 1998, he met Lila Downs while playing a festival in Oaxaca, Mexico, and since then has gained critical acclaim playing harp and violin in her band, La Misteriosa. Duarte made some of the arrangements and co-wrote the title track for Lila's 2005 Grammy-Award winning album "Una Sangre (One Blood)." He has also accompanied other artists, including Susana Baca, Plácido Domingo, Mariza, Ramón Vargas, Julieta Venegas, Olivia Molina, and Wynton Marsalis. He also collaborated with Julieta Venegas on the soundtrack to the Academy Award-nominated film "Maria Full of Grace."

In addition to performing and recording, Duarte also spends time researching folkloric genres that are in danger of being lost.

Critical reception

Duarte has been acclaimed as a harp virtuoso and one of the leading figures of world music. Critical comments on Duarte include: Following a June 2004 concert with Lila Downs at London's Royal Festival Hall, the Evening Standard noted that the show "centred on Celso Duarte's impassioned harp and violin." After the same show, The Guardian of London wrote, "The best songs, by far, were those from Mexico in which she dispensed with keyboards and concentrated instead on her virtuoso harp and violin player, Celso Duarte." After the release of his first solo album, Paste magazine wrote: "Duarte’s latest album, De Sur a Sur ('From South to South'), is the modern manifestation of Son Jarocho's characteristic style—amazingly nimble harp lines played at blazing speeds (“Apolonita”) while occasionally backed by traditional female folk singing ('Cascabel'). It’s an intoxicating mixture, and entirely different from other regional folk-music styles better known to North American audiences." In announcing his appearance in New York as part of the 2007 Celebrate Mexico Now Festival, Joe's Pub called Duarte "charismatic, talented and deeply profound." After a 2007 performance in Washington, D.C., The Washington Post wrote that the "virtuoso of the Paraguayan harp" had "captivated" the Kennedy Center audience. At the time of a 2007 appearance in Los Angeles, La Opinion described Duarte as "an extraordinary harpist" whose music "sounds so heavenly start as unprecedented." In May 2010, Carnegie Hall announced Duarte's May 2010 appearance at the historic venue as follows: "Celso Duarte is heir to a rich South American and Mexican musical heritage. ... Mr. Duarte interprets songs from the jaranero movement and creates original versions of South American folk music, often integrating the rhythms and traditions of jazz and world music."

Discography Solo De Sur a Sur (From South to South), 2006

Instrumentalist Lila Downs, Border (La Line), 2001 (appears on) Lila Downs, Una Sangre (One Blood), 2004 (appears on) Maria Full of Grace soundtrack, 2004 (collaboration with Julieta Venegas) Lila Downs, La Cantina, 2006 (appears on) Charanga Cakewalk, Chicano Zen, 2006 (appears on) Lila Downs, Shake Away/Ojo De Culebra, 2008 (appears on) Sofia Koutsovitis, Sube Azul, 2009 (appears on) Lila Downs y la Misteriosa, Lila Downs y la Misteriosa en Paris: Live à FIP, 2010 (appears on) The Chieftains & Ry Cooder, San Patricio, 2010 (appears on) Celso Piña, Sin Fecha de Caducidad, 2010 (appears on) Susanna Baca, Afrodiaspora, 2011 (appears on) Lila Downs y La Misteriosa (Sins and Miracles), Pecados Y Milagros 2011 (appears on)