The Cuban born guitarist Ahmed Dickinson Cárdenas has assembled a charming collection of pieces on this album, reflecting much of his heritage and peripatetic lifestyle. He has recorded the works of contemporary composers – many of whom he has collaborated with closely, producing an album that portrays city culture, combined with traditional timbres, grooves and melodies of Latin America.

As well as traditional influences, contemporary composers have clearly drawn on classical guitar greats for their musical language; this is hinted at in Flores Chaviano’s compositions and Stephen Goss’s Sonatina, where hints of Andrés Segovia’s vocabulary surface. This, combined with the breadth and diversity of London culture present stark contrasts – from the energetic ‘Canary Wharf to the sweetness of ‘Marylebone Elegy.’

Collaboration and diversity evidently make up much of Cárdenas’ musical personality and this is shown in the earthy and gorgeous Tongoy Triptych For Two Guitars by Dominique Le Gendre. Here, he partners with the guitarist Helen Sanderson, and the creative connection glimmers. Apart from the additional strings, the piece resonates with many of the sounds that guitarists make so well; cascading phrasing, percussive sounds and falling inverted chords.

The journey from Chile continues to Cuba where Walfrido Domínguez’s Cuaderno de Viaje No. 5 draws on Afro-Cuban rhythmic patterns, and gentle but uninhibited simple folk tunes. Finishing with Le Gendres’s Six Sketches For Solo Guitar, the recording concludes with music as unpretentious as the title suggests. Cárdenas has chosen his music with integrity and performs with a refreshing but pleasingly undramatic palette of sounds.