Andrey Astaiza
Chonta Madre

Digital: $9.99

Andrey Astaiza - French horn and Conch
Hector Tascón - Marimba, Voice
Kevin Santos - Traditional Marimba, Percussion, Voice
Fredy Vallejos - Electronics, Percussion, Voice
Carlos Albán - Drums and Percussion
Guillo Estrella - Percussion, Voice
Seongmi Kim - Piano, Voice
Esteban Mena - Keyboards
Diego Benalcázar Vega - Electronics

 “I have been trying to understand the inner workings of the French horn and its place in Western music through years of commitment to the practice and performance of traditional - and not-so-traditional - repertoire written for it. I have also tried to understand this instrument by breaking down the technical components of playing, in isolation. By doing this, I was actually limiting myself to a world of sound that has already been performed and studied by thousands of horn players and heard by a wide audience around the world.

“Therefore, instead of attempting to understand what horn playing meant in solitude and Western tradition, I have learned more about this instrument by performing in combination with instruments that are very rarely used in the context of the French horn: conch shell, electronics, auxiliary percussion, and the unique marimba de chonta, which is the core sound concept of the album. This non-traditional combination of instruments naturally allowed us to freely explore a newfound world of creativity.

“Each musician on the album contributed a musical gesture which, given an intentional lack of parameters, organically grew into a composition through collective improvisation and resulted in a work recorded in only two sessions.

“With the recent political upheavals in Ecuador, I had been motivated to perform, on the horn and conch, in local street protests with my fellow citizens. Even through this extra-musical display of popular solidarity, I found myself immersed in sounds I’ve never experienced before. The revelatory creative experience with my dear friends that resulted in this album and the “ensemble” of protestors in the streets…these non-traditional performances have reminded me that an individual thought can become a collective thought that can result in art that is just as valid as the traditions taught to us and that perhaps theorists, scientists and educators cannot explain.“

–Andrey Astaiza, September 2022

credits

Producer: Diego Benalcázar Vega
Recorded at: La Incredible Sociedad. (Quito, Ecuador). Additional recording dB Audio Lab (Guayaquil, Ecuador) and Universidad de las Artes (Guayaquil, Ecuador)
Recording engineer by: Daniel Pasquel
Assistant engineer: Paul Quinche
Mix And master by: Diego Benalcázar Vega
Artwork by Eron Rauch
Design by Dan Rosenboom

ORENDA RECORDS 0103