Sukay is a four person group that plays authentic Andean music, primarily of Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador, plus composed music derived from Andean tradition. Last night’s phenomenally attended concert wasn’t Sukay’s first Tucson appearance: Sukay first came to Tucson in spring of 1983, when the group played a concert at the University of Arizona for the Friends of Traditional music. Audience response took everybody by surprise --700 people crammed a small UA facility and went ape for the flutes and pipes and drums and string of the Andean people.

Last night was more of the same, produced privately and at a larger venue. There still weren’t enough seats. The old Temple of Music and Art probably hadn’t had so many people in it in decades. I arrived shortly before curtain time and had to take a back row seat in the upper balcony. The stage was so far below, I felt I was in the Andes. Last night’s performance was well played, well received. Sukay’s music is hollowly beautiful. The panpipes and wooden flutes that dominate its color have a sound transparent as glass and sweet as rain.