Peruvian percussionist and visual artist, Manongo Mujica releases, Del Cuarto Rojo: Homenaje Sonoro Escuchando la Pintura de Rafael Hastings
Manongo Mujica credit via Francisco Medina
Peruvian percussionist and visual artist, Manongo Mujica releases, Del Cuarto Rojo: Homenaje Sonoro Escuchando la Pintura de Rafael Hastings (From The Red Room: Sound Tribute Listening To Rafael Hastings’ Paintings).
Produced by: Manongo Mujica
Peruvian composer, percussionist, and visual artist Manongo Mujica has released a touching tribute to longtime friend, Rafael Hastings entitled Del Cuarto Rojo: Homenaje Sonoro Escuchando la Pintura de Rafael Hastings.
The story of Del Cuarto Rojo began in March 2020 when the musician learned of the death of his lifelong friend, Rafael Hastings. As friends for nearly half a century, their kinship dates to 1974 when a young Manongo returned to Lima after ten years abroad in London. Around the same time, a young Rafael Hastings and his wife (Yvonne von Mollendorff) settled in Peru after years in Europe. Their paths would soon cross, and with both living as artists, a desire to create and collaborate became inevitable. The two would often “listen to images and painting sounds” through the years. Their respect and interconnected artistic rapport intensified whether creating video, conceptual scores, or experimental dance pieces.
Del Cuarto Rojo is an album that sees Mujica integrate his deep-rooted love of music with the admiration of his lost friend. Spanning eight tracks (and two bonus tracks on CD), the album flutters between experimental jazz fusion that uses field recordings and sound montages, and orchestral compositions that include string arrangements. The tracks are fused together through the hypnotic pulse of Mujica’s percussion and drums that serve as the heartbeat of the project. Speaking of the percussions and drums, they are supremely sublime. Mujica competently creates environments of tension and dismay one moment. And then in the next, he relishes in the tenderness and subtleties that show love for a lost friend.
The following excerpt from the 12-page booklet included details Mujica’s views regarding the album and how it is broken down into sections.
“I have always listened to the atmospheres in his paintings as magnificent orchestral silences. The concept of this work has two narratives. The first part of the disc talks about our relationship and his departure to the unknown. It is like a landscape suite composed in four parts and is developed inside the desert we both love. The second part has a more spontaneous and playful nature, similar to the shadows of his paintings and the characters of a secret and metaphysical work-in-progress novel. Each song is a world in itself.”
The album features many outstanding musicians such as Pauchi Sasaki (violin), José Quezada (cello), Terje Evensen (electronic effects), Jean Pierre Magnet (Saxophone), Cristobal, Daniel, and Gabriel Mujica (sons of Manongo Mujica, on percussion, string and wind arrangements). The album is set to include a full-color 12-page booklet with samples of Rafael Hasting’s art (samples below) as well as feature artwork on the cover of all formats. The CD version adds two bonus tracks.
Del Cuarto Rojo: Homenaje Sonoro Escuchando la Pintura de Rafael Hastings is available today on all streaming services.
Standout Songs: Mar – Sin inicio, Neblina, Cuerpos en fuga, Latido final, Voces del mar*, Humor negro*
* indicates bonus track contained on CD only.
6.9
Visual art by Rafael Hastings. From top left: Nadar (Swim), Heroe (Hero), Evolución (Evolution), Abandonarse (Abandon Oneself), Caminos (Roads), Contemplando Callado (Contemplating Silent).
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