L.A.-Spun New Song

***HUAYUCALTIA. “Caminos” ROM. Latin America’s socially and politically conscious nueva cancion (new song) may not be new, but Huayucaltia’s first album--”Caminos” (“Highways”)--clearly is. Make no mistake, this isn’t just folk music, even though the instrumentation (Indian flutes and tiny armadillo guitars) and achingly sad melodies are overtly Andean. What we really have here is something more akin to Andean jazz. The group’s performance style, especially in the guitar playing and composition of Ciro Hurtado, is subtly suffused with a flamenco and jazz sensibility. Add the hauntingly clear voice of Cindy Harding, and you have Los Angeles-spun nueva cancion with a contemporary edge that can make the jump into the post-modern, World Beat breach.