Percussionist Manongo Mujica, who began playing in Peruvian rock bands in 1970, went on to fuse jazz with the country’s roots-based music in the 1980s, has composed, improvised, and collaborated with the likes of Acid Mothers Temple and Richard Pinhas. In 2020, he received the news that his dear friend of nearly 50 years, visual artist Rafael Hastings, had died, prompting the musical travels on Del Cuarto Rojo, as he tried to detail their friendship in sound. The results are evocative, touching, and sadly beautiful.

“Mar” finds his subtle hand drums providing the grounding for long, elegant cello and violin lines that skirt the lines between tribute and dirge. “Cuerpos en Fuga” pits his percussion over the sound of waves before a horn section driven by a baritone saxophone provides a clipped melodic framework. It’s a track that rides Mujica’s groove, allowing horns and strings to skitter and stretch before being left on their own to echo into nothing. “Procesion” on the other hand, is a sub-conscious drone topped by gongs as it grows. A pulse provides the picture of the track’s title as the tune suggests Hastings’ wake or perhaps a late night canoe ride through a river surrounded by unsullied jungle. Elsewhere, the record pits field recordings against pizzicato bass or disembodied voices as Mujica paints aural paintings inspired by his late friend.

Territorio del Eco compiles key Peruvian musicians who were at the forefront of the country’s sonic innovations during the second half of the 20th Century. The focus here is on players who meshed the country’s Andean traditions into some truly far-reaching explorations. Not surprisingly, Manongo Murjica, along with Miguel Flores and Arturo Ruiz del Pozo and others, are represented on this collection. Mujica’s “Invocacion” from 1989 includes a field recording of a parade band underneath a free-blown quena, as the composer’s own drumming creeps up on the entire affair until it explodes. Experimental vocalist Corina Bartras soars wordlessly over “Jungle” from 1985, occasionally applying echo and vocal overdubs as one drummer holds tight to the pulse while another percussionist makes declarations.

Julio “Chocolate” Algendones takes us out of the mountains to Peru’s Afro-coast with lead-and-response vocals and tight hand conga and cajon playing that one might mistake for Cuban, as it turns out Algendones spent time playing Santiera in both Cuba and Haiti. His “Eleegua” is the least experimental track on this collection. Perhaps the most “out” of anything here is Ave Acustica’s “Llegué a Lima al Atardecer,” which features a brawl between several quenas, de-tuned, plucked string instruments, persistent snare taps, recordings of birds, rain, and smashed glass. Yet even here, thanks to quena, there is still connection with Peru’s unique musical roots.

The album comes with extensive liner notes detailing Peru’s 20th Century avant garde history, where it makes connections across genres even as it connects the various musicians not only to each other, but to the country’s rich traditions. Peru’s musical visionaries never completely left behind their roots; instead, they modernized a particular strain of South American music as they created sounds as crucial as anything coming from their North American or European neighbors.

Further adventures:
Los Abuelos del Wayku
Los Wembler's de Iquitos