“A Thousand Rawhide Diaphragms” is the title track of London-based musician  Maurizio Ravalico‘s upcoming record. This solo album focuses solely on the Afro-Cuban instrument, the conga. All the compositions and performances are done with conga drums and basking in the organic sound.

Born in 1963 in the seaport city of Trieste in northeastern Italy, Ravalico developed an obsession with percussion. Although he turned his full attention to music at 21, he started playing for theatres and local jazz, salsa, and rock bands by 23. He studied Congas and Afro Cuban Percussion intensively under legendary artists such as Tomàs “El Panga” Ramos, Changuito, and Los Chinos.

In Ravalico’s expansive career, he played with numerous artists, bands and groups in Italy and the UK, where he had an active presence in the British Funk scene before settling in Berlin. With drummer Davide Giovannini as the duo Afroshock, his album “Accommodating Gods” is regarded as one of the most important works for percussion music from the UK in the 90s.

“A Thousand Rawhide Diaphragms” layers multiple rhythmic structures on top of each other. It is a frenzied and untamed soundscape. Staying true to its title, this track does sound like the war cry of a thousand reverberating diaphragms. The apparent sound of multiple congas often resembles heavy rain on a resonant surface. Ravalico brings out and moulds the underlying pulsating rhythms through torrential downpours of beats, unmasking “an order from the chaos.” The intention of creating less constrained music for Congas is verily present on this track and across the album.

Check it out below, and look for “A Thousand Rawhide Diaphragms,” which is out on 25 October.