Cumbia amazónica

Cumbia amazónica is the psychedelic cumbia of the Peruvian Amazon, created in the oil-boom river towns of Iquitos, Pucallpa and Moyobamba in the late 1960s and 1970s. Electric guitars drenched in reverb, wah-wah and fuzz carry the melodies, answered by Farfisa organ, over güiro, congas and a brisk cumbia beat, in mostly instrumental arrangements that also absorb surf, Brazilian carimbó, huayno and rock. Groups such as *Los Mirlos* and *Juaneco y Su Combo*, recorded by Lima's #Infopesa# label, dressed in Indigenous-inspired costume and wrote songs of jungle life, oil camps and river travel, defining a regional sound within Peru's wider chicha culture.