Live Review: Novalima

“Come closer – this is more of a dancing show than a musical show!” The crowd happily oblige Novalima's request a few tracks into their set. Casting aside any self-consciousness, the young and old enthusiastically flock to the centre of the handsome Spiegeltent and jostle for space on the timber dancefloor. They shake freely to the infectious tempo of the band's fusion of traditional Afro-Peruvian percussion with Latin jazz and electronica – a style which they have refined and embraced after earlier experimentations incorporating salsa, samba and reggae.

The seven-strong band crowd the stage with their electric guitars, a keyboard and a sound mixer among an already fascinating array of traditional Afro-Peruvian instruments – the most prominent one being the cajõn, a simple-looking wooden box the size of a stool, on which the percussionist sits and rapidly drums mesmerising beats with his splayed fingers. Historically fashioned out of wooden packing crates by African slaves in Peru, the cajõn produces the lively, hip-gyrating rhythm that underscores all the songs played tonight.

Machete, from their 2010 album Afro, remains a standout number with its slow burning rhythm, rousing chants and an unforgettable percussion duet which builds to a feverish climax. During the bridge, the cajita or 'little box' adds a vibrant tempo, as does the quijada de burro or 'donkey's jaw', in which the percussionist strikes the side of a donkey's skeletal jawbones with the side of their hands and runs a stick over the tops of its (cleaned) teeth to elicit chilling rasps.

Recordings of a traditional African horn section, rumbling thunder and a spoken prologue in Spanish are thankfully played back sparsely. They add little to what is already a hypnotic musical marriage between the old and the new. Novalima are guaranteed to get you dancing.