Peruvian singer launches her new album Traviesas
on Luaka Bop.
Susana
Baca belongs to a new generation of Peruvian singers,
delving into the shadows of the past to recover shimmering
melodies and seductive rhythms. Her seemingly effortless
interpretative skills belie years of work assembling the
songs, the stories and the steps of music and dances once
consigned to history.
The
world knew little of Susana or her Afro-Peruvian
heritage before 1995, when she was brought to wider
attention by the enthusiastic patronage of David
Byrne through his Luaka Bop label.
It's partly to his credit that she has been able
to perpetuate these traditions, both locally and
internationally, taking unique musical forms like
the halting landó and lively festejo into
the twenty first century without diluting their
essence.
She's
also had the advantage of a stable partnership with her
musical director and double bass player David Pinto for
the last seven years. With one proverbial eye on tradition
and the other wandering inquisitively into vaguely experimental
territory, they keep their music vibrant and engaging.
Susana
Baca de la Colina (born. Chorrillos, Lima Province, Peru,
1944) is a prominent Peruvian singer of Afro-Peruvian
descent. She has been a key figure in the revival of Afro-Peruvian
music within Peru (see, for example, dancers from the
Perú Negro troupe, as well as "Festejo"
music), which, like the culture that produced it, had
previously been little recognized, but which is now regarded
as an important part of Peruvian culture. Baca has contributed
much to its international popularity, which began in 1995
with the release of the compilation CD The Soul of Black
Peru. The album, which features the Baca song "Maria
Lando", was released by the Luaka Bop record label,
which belongs to ex-Talking Heads frontman David Byrne.
Career
Baca
grew up in a coastal fishing village Chorrillos,
a district of the Lima Province of Peru, and part
of greater Lima. Her music is a mixture of traditional
and contemporary. Her backing band features indigenous
Peruvian instruments such as the cajón ("wooden
box", whose origins lie in an upturned fruit
crate), guapeo (clay pot), and quijada (jawbone
of a burro), as well as acoustic guitar and double
bass. Although many of her songs are based on traditional
forms such as the
----Susana Baca - Una
Copla Me Ha Cantado
landó
or
vals, she also incorporates elements of Cuban and Brazilian
music.
Her
songs are poetic (with lyrics composed by some of Latin
America's premier poets, with whom she collaborates),
rich with evocative imagery, and her voice is delicate
yet soulful. She has an elegant and engaging stage presence,
gliding gracefully about the stage while singing. Her
delivery is so deeply felt and emotion-filled as to project
a spiritual character, even in songs that are not expressly
religious in subject matter.
With
her husband, Bolivian musicologist Richard Pereira, Baca
founded the Instituto Negrocontinuo (Black Continuum Institute)
in her seafront home in Chorrillos. It fosters the collection,
preservation, and creation of Afro-Peruvian culture, music,
and dance.
In
2002, Susana Baca won the Latin Grammy Award for Best
Folk Album, for her Lamento Negro CD.
Discography
* 1987 - Poesía y Canto Negro
* 1991 - Vestida de Vida, Canto Negro de las Américas!
* 1992 - Fuego y Agua
* 1997 - Susana Baca
* 2000 - Eco De Sombras
* 2001 - Lamento Negro
* 2002 - Espiritu Vivo
* 2004 - The Best Of Susana Baca
* 2006 - Travesias
Films
* 2003 - Susana Baca: Memoria Viva. Directed by Marc Dixon.
