La Mano Ajena

La Mano Ajena is a Chilean band founded in 2002 that mixes rhythms from Eastern Europe, Latin America, France and Russia, blending all these sounds in a perfect pastiche that also unites the tendencies of each member of the band: rock, punk, latin american folklore and theater music. This musical project is unique in Chile, and its hybrid sound has been called "klezmer a la chilena" by press^[1].

La Mano Ajena incorporates in its work a traditional repertoire sung in diverse languages: Romany, Yiddish, Hebrew, French and Spanish. Its members are 8 multi-instrumentalists: Rodrigo Latorre, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, guitar, piccolo flute, keyboard and theremin; María Fernanda Carrasco, vocals, keyboard, melodica and minor percussion; Danka Villanueva, violin and marimba; Gabriel Moyla, accordion, alto saxophone and baritone saxophone; Jair Moreno, clarinet; Álvaro Sáez, drums, darbuka and djembe.; Cristian Aqueveque, electric bass and double bass; and Humberto Durán, congas. Most of them have been part of important Chilean theater companies.

During 2006 they went on their first European Tour, doing shows in several cities of Denmark and Spain. On that same year, their first album was released in Spain by the Fundación Autor record company. In 2008, on their second European tour, they played 19 times in 21 days, in different Danish cities. That same year, the famous Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica and his No Smoking Orchestra asked La Mano Ajena to join them on stage during their show in Santiago, on October 13th. During that occasion, the band was also invited to participate in the Kusturica’s Küstendorf Film Festival 2009, annual event held in Mokra Gora, Serbia, where the Chilean musicians shared stage with bands like Haydamaky from Ukraine and Leb I Sol from Macedonia^[2] ^[3]. The show given by La Mano Ajena was praised by some of the most important guests of the festival, like the American director Jim Jarmusch and Thierry Frémaux, head of Cannes Film Festival^[4].

On november 2009, La Mano Ajena opened the concert of the world famous New York gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello, on their first visit to Chile.

In Chile, they have played in some of the most important stages of the country, and their versatility has led them to create original music and songs for television shows. In 2009, they participated in “Leche para Haití” a charity concert created to raise funds for children in Haití; and they were part of the cultural program “Creando Chile en mi barrio” (“Creating Chile in my neighborhood”), organized by the Chilean Ministry of Culture, where, as a cultural delegation, they travelled around the country playing in different stages, recording new tracks, teaching lessons and sharing their experiences with new musicians and bands from different corners of Chile.