Window to the Andes (Music of the Andes)
Window to the Andesis primarily an instrumental recording, featuring the now-expectedquena(pan-pipes) and flutes along with an ensemble that plays bandurria, tipple, guitar, and bass. The trio of two Bolivians, Gonzalo Vargas and Jose Luis Reynolds, and Argentinean composer/producer Enrique Coria, while not strict traditionalists, play it pretty straight--with a few nods to modern technique and arrangement, enhancing the heritage of the music. There is nothing experimental about this record, which spares us of the usual reverb-soaked new-age productions that define so many "Andean" musical projects recorded in the United States. Instead, they deliver music with both contemporary depth and folk-rooted honesty. This is a modern extension of an ancient musical culture by a group that allows that growth is part of the folk process.--Louis Gibson