Eclectic Echosystem
Listening Post 79. In the Peruvian rainforest where Ciro Hurtado grew up, the sun peaked through the tree canopy and radio brought musical breezes from neighboring countries and around the world. Though he has lived in the United States since he was 20, Hurtado has spent his life as a guitarist and composer creating his own hybrid habitat, with an abundance of musical species—Andean folk, classical, jazz, blues, flamenco, among others—fusing into a magical echo/ecosystem. On his newest album, Selva (Jungle), he combines his prodigious talents with an ensemble of artists to produce a 13-track collection (six instrumental, the rest with vocal accompaniment) and rarely has a rainforest seemed so welcoming. In the gentle wind of Así Eres Tu En Mi Corazón (This Is How You Are in My Heart), he plays and directs a profusion of Andean instruments, joined with the voices of Trio Ellas: “As brightness of moon and sun/Light at dawn/Wildflower/So are you in my heart” (video 1). Guitar and alto flute carry Pacto de Amor (Covenant of Love), along with the soothing tones of Suemy Gonzalez: “Give me again, my darling/The nectar of your faithful lips/Lost in eternity,” she sings (video 2). The pace quickens with Rio (River), the current driven by Hurtado’s guitar and the lovely but wordless vocals of the aptly named Suzanne Waters (video 3). Other outstanding tracks are Corre, Salta y Vuela (Run, Jump and Fly), conveying the excitement of homecoming; the mellow dance of Suavecito (Softly) and the instrumental Cumbia de la Selva. In the modern urban world, jungles are often depicted as dangerous and lawless; Ciro Hurtado shows us the flip side of a nurturing, embracing and inspiring environment. (Inti Productions)