“Monte” is a louder, brighter turn for Helena Recalde. The Ecuadorian bassist, singer and composer, long settled in France, usually works Andean melody and Afro-Pacific rhythm into jazz, and here she keeps the Afro-Pacific rhythm but pushes it louder and brighter, electric guitars and a balafon over layered percussion, her bass holding the centre.

The refrain is a summons, “El monte me llama”, the mountain calling her by name. In the verses that call comes from a jungle in trouble: it stirs, it wears thin, it hurts, but no one is listening.

Recalde recorded “Monte” with Nicolas Gaud on guitar, Vanesa García on drums, Muriel Gastebois on balafon, Sebastián on percussion and Aurora Alquinta Monsalve on backing vocals, under the direction of French saxophonist Julien Lourau. The single comes out through Khitara Musique and Fincasud Productions.

Hear “Monte” HERE