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The spiritual essence of Latin America's Andean music emerge from the Incan culture and is embodied in the flauta de pan or wooden windpipes. Edgar Muenala, native of Otavalo, ventured further than his people's history would have it (or came closer to it?) and fused Andean music with that of the Far East.

The musical life of Mr. Muenala started at the age of 18 as part of the group Ñanda Mañachi. Muenala is an exceptional musician who plays equally well the guitar, mandolin, violin and charango (small 10 string guitars typical of the Andes). His specialty, however, are the Andean wind instruments such as kena, rondador and flauta de pan.

With Ñanda Mañachi, Muenala traveled outside of Ecuador and was able to visit the USA and Canada. In Canada, Edgar had his first encounter with Chinese culture. Fascinated by the piercing melodies of Oriental music, Muenala adapted his style to a mix of electronic sound with digital effects with classical Chinese and Andean instruments. This innovation gives a new flavor and is a revolution in typcal Andean music. However, the familiarity in the musical essence of East and West remains. “When I play Chinese instruments," states Muenala, "it's like playing a san juanito (a traditional Ecuadorian mestizo rhythm).”

Muenala currently lives in Canada where he has resided for the past 13 years. This July he will participate in the Festival of Shangai in China. Among his current ambitions is to promote his web page, Nativo Site, and to make it a place of congregation for traditional musicians around the world.

The song we present for your listening pleasure is entitled “Green Mountain.” This beautiful song relates to the varying seasons in China and tells the tale of a father saying goodbye to his daughter who is about to leave for the mountains. The song features the Chinese vocalist, D'arci Han.