La Noche Más Larga (Warner Records)
Buika
Released June 4, 2013
Grammy Nominee for Best Latin Jazz Album 2014
YouTube: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=OkTD4UGdhfE&list=OLAK5uy_lb6s_oValEJGjTVTfT-0-4AtSoF5pfiCQ
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/51A7Y0m3162YxMl2dtj2cP?si=VSvjF1PJTa2ySW7H5-Hojg
About:
Ever since her self-titled debut in 2005, Spanish singer Concha Buika has mesmerized fans with her dark, husky voice, which mixes the Moorish roots of flamenco with the dexterity of great jazz singers. Buika, part of a long line of captivating female vocalists from Spain, has progressed from her nouveau flamenco beginnings to become an artist with a broad musical vision, as she wraps her spectacular voice around a variety of settings.
In 2009, she released a gorgeous tribute to the late Mexican ranchera vocalist Chavela Vargas – El Ultimo Trago, recorded with Cuban pianist Chucho Valdes. Her wrenching vocals in the title track, written by legendary Mexican composer Jose Alfredo Jimenez, expertly capture the profound universality of despair and heartache. On La Noche Más Larga, out June 4, she digs deep in songs that stand on their own as a near-perfect statement of artistic purpose. She finds new emotional resonance in compositions associated with Abbey Lincoln, Jacques Brel and Billie Holiday. Her five self-penned compositions, including one with guitarist Pat Metheny, add another dimension to her artistry. In all, La Noche Más Larga is a thrilling discovery from an artist who’s always a joy to behold.
Track Listing:
1. Sueño con Ella (Concha Buika) 6:51
2. Siboney (Ernesto Lecuona) 4:45
3. Ne Me Quitte Pas (Jacques Brel) 4:20
4. Yo Vengo a Ofrecer Mi Corazón (Rodolfo Páez) 3:57
5. La Nave del Olvido (Dino Ramos) 6:03
6. La Noche Más Larga (Concha Buika) 3:54
7. Don’t Explain (Billie Holiday / Arthur Herzog, Jr.) 4:01
8. No Lo Sé (Concha Buika) 3:40
9. Santa Lucia (Roque Narvaja) 4:28
10. Los Solos (Concha Buika) 4:02
11. Como Era (Concha Buika) 5:18
12. Throw It Away (Abbey Lincoln) 5:21
Personnel:
Buika: voice
Iván “Melón” Lewis: piano, keyboards, percussion, arrangements and musical direction
Ramón Porrina: percussion, background vocals and arrangements
John Benítez: bass
Alain Pérez: electric bass
Juan José Suárez “El Paquete”: Flamenco guitar
Carlos De Motril: Flamenco guitar
Pedrito Martínez: percussion, background vocals
Israel Suárez “El Piraña”: percussion
Dafnis Prieto: drums
Carlos Sarduy: trumpet
“Dizzy” Daniel Moorehead: saxophone (2)
Pat Metheny: guitar (8)
Genara Cortés: background vocals
Alicia Morales: background vocals
Saray Muñoz: background vocals
Recorded at BByB Studios, Miami Beach, FL, Madrid, Spain, Sear Sound Studios, NYC
Producer: Eli Wolf
Recording engineer: Ted Tuthill assisted by Owen Mulholland
Additional engineers: Alonso Cano, Santiago Quizhpe
Mixing: Carlos Álvarez
Mastering: Mike Fuller
Executive Producers: Concha Buika, Iván “Melon” Lewis, Ramón Porrina
Review:
It has been five years since Concha Buika released Ultimo Trago, her tribute to ranchera legend Chavela Vargas in collaboration with Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés. She’s also had her songs used in Pedro Almodovar’s La Piel que Habito, authored two books, toured relentlessly, and relocated from Spain to Miami, Florida. On La Noche Mas Larga she has continued her musical evolution from her beginnings as a dynamic neuvo flamenco singer to a true stylist who weaves the roots, passion, and skill of that music into everything from Afro-Cuban styles, jazz, and even R&B. Co-produced by herself, pianist Ivan “Melon” Lewis, and percussionist Ramon Porrina, Buika reveals herself as an accomplished songwriter on nearly half these tunes. Recorded in Madrid, Miami, and New York, she surrounded herself with many familiar musicians including bassist Alain Perez and guitarist Juan Jose Suarez (aka “El Paquete”), as well as enlisting New York Latin jazz players like drummer Dafnis Prieto, to name one. “Seboney” showcases a flamenco jazz vocal inside an arrangement that melds conga-driven rhumba to funk. Her reading of Jacques Brel’s “If You Go Away” (“Ne Me Quitte Pas”) is transformed from a ballad to a 6/8 flamenco-infused Cuban jazz cooker that features some scatting, and for all its revisioning, still feels raw and sensual and mournful. Carlos Sarduy’s muted trumpet aids in the slower Afro-Cuban groove that underscores “La Nave del Olvido.” There is a pair of jazz standards here too, and though sung in English, they’re completely re-arranged. “Don’t Explain” is closely associated with Billie Holiday. This version is a swinging flamenco reading that evokes the spirit of jazz while never diving fully into it. Set-closer “Throw It Away” is an Abbey Lincoln signature piece. Buika’s version, driven by Pérez’s funky electric bassline, nonetheless employs the heart of flamenco as it meets neo-soul and modern jazz. “Como Era,” an original, commences as a lilting ballad but gradually takes on a fingerpopping R&B groove. Buika’s “Los Solos” suggests timba highlighted by bata drums. Her title track is a mysterious ballad that marries flamenco rhythms and dynamics to jazz syncopation and an elegiac yet sensual melody. Speaking of ballads, guitarist Pat Metheny appears on the smoky, aching “No Lo Se.” With gorgeous production, creative vision, and an ambitious reach combined with poetic lyricism and musical sophistication, La Noche Mas Larga displays Buika’s truly singular power as a singer; she can not only can inject flamenco’s soul into virtually anything she sings, she can push hard at its walls convincingly, and without abandoning it. This is her masterpiece to date.
Thom Jurek (Allmusic)
