Music Reviews : Huayucaltia’s Swinging Sound of the Andes

Andean music is definitely sweeping the world; one can find Peruvian bands playing in the streets of major European cities these days. And some of the sounds of the Andes, if not the pristine article, have swept into the increasingly adventurous Chamber Music in Historic Sites series here in the form of Huayucaltia.

This time, the six-member L.A.-based band found itself within the bizarre, mock-pre-Columbian hodgepodge of the downtown Mayan Theater, now converted into a nightclub. Yet as often happens in this series, the music met its match in the venue: Like this theater, Huayucaltia is a cosmopolitan blend of influences from all over Latin America, with a touch of North American show biz.

As in its outdoor appearance at the Los Angeles Festival in September, Huayucaltia took its time Tuesday night establishing an ambience, but the process seemed far more effective indoors.

For once, the dry-ice smoke at the outset was more than a tired ritual; it created a cold mist that put one up in the cloud-shrouded mountains, while sound effects from various wind instruments floated around the hall. The gently amplified sound was treated to heavy reverberation, blurring the winds but adding atmosphere.

Again, the Andes winds and panpipes, the rapid strumming of the cuatro and charango and exotic percussion instruments were used as launching pads for excursions through seductive Latin American grooves.

Guitarist Ciro Hurtado, the only Peruvian in the group, played the virtuoso sophisticate with one lean, swinging, jazz-influenced solo after another. Cindy Harding, from Palo Alto, offered clear-voiced vocals and joyous versatility on a variety of stringed, wind and percussion instruments.

There were times when Huayucaltia seemed as if it could use a break from overworked material. Yet, despite the occasional slickness of their sound, the cool wooden flutes and a discordant blast from the tarkas still bring us back to the mountains.