Selva

Listen to the opening of ‘Cumbia de la Selva’ and you’ll find yourself unsure where it's taking you. Spain or Cuba, perhaps? Then the Andean flutes locate you in Peru. Ciro Hurtado is a prolific guitarist, composer and producer who grew up in the Peruvian rainforest, where he absorbed as much musical diversity as short-wave radio would allow. Since settling in California, he has dedicated himself to a kind of new world fusion. His ninth album under his own name (in addition to seven as musical director of the band Huayucaltia), Selva is a collection of compositions based on Latin American folk music and instrumentation, with world influences. The album's prevailing JJ Cale tempo can sometimes make you hanker after something more urgent. But there's some lovely music among the five instrumentals and eight tracks featuring female vocals. The final quartet of stripped-down numbers – from the jazzy ‘Bolero del Ocaso’ to ‘Solo Tú’, a duet with Hurtado's wife, Cindy Harding – are especially fine.

Rise above the occasional ‘El Condor Pasa’ cliché and uncomfortable foray into soft-jazz territory, and Selva can transport you to enough enchanting places to warrant visiting Hurtado's copious back catalogue.