El Ultimo Trago (Warner Music Spain)
Buika
Released October 27, 2009
Top 10 NPR Jazz Critics Poll Albums 2009
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nS1SY5VQZDMrHnDVDANXYEHJSYEioCtq0
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/intl-pt/album/5NDGvVTYJo4Id7MTeOHLUL?si=8xfGs85fQhCFbZWbs3Nn8w
About:
Buika was born in Palma de Mallorca in 1972 where her family, originally from Guinea Ecuatorial, live. She learnt from her mother to listen to the great voices of jazz, and from the Spanish radio, the copla that rushed into her life. She started singing at bars & pubs in Mallorca, recording several songs (house style) and collaborated with La Fura del Baus in “Ombra”. In 2000, she dosen’t remember exactly how or why, she arrived to Las Vegas where she worked in Casinos as the double of Tina Turner and The Supremes where she got an invitation from Rachelle Ferrell, (a jazz mademoiselle) to act at Club Blue Note. When she moved to Madrid and recorded her first album, in it, she showed the never-ending possibility of her skills as a singer. At the recording studio she kept her style besides the insistence of four producers that wanted to change her personal style.
El Ultimo Trago is a celebration of Chavela Vargas’s 90th birthday. Recorded in Cuba with live musicians this album is a collection of Chavela’s greatest hits performed with the powerful vocals only Buika can deliver and accompanied by masterful pianist Chucho Vlades. This album is truly a musical jewel any music lover will enjoy.
Track Listing:
1. Soledad 02:48
2. Sombras (Carlos Brito / Rosario Sansores) 04:11
3. Ciudades 04:32
4. Cruz de Olvido (Juan Zaizar Torres) 04:13
5. Andariego 03:40
6. En el Ultimo Trago 02:48
7. Se Me Hizo Facil (Agustín Lara) 04:19
8. Mundo Raro 04:50
9. Simples Cosas 02:13
10. Somos (Mario Clavell) 04:10
11. Luz de Luna 03:34
12. Vamonos 04:09
Personnel:
Chucho Valdés: piano and arrangements
Concha Buika: lead voice
Lázaro Rivero Alarcón: double bass
Juan Carlos Rojas Castro: drums
Yaroldy Abreu Robles: latin percussion and minor percussion
Javier Limón: flamenco guitar
Carlos Sarduy: trumpet
Produced by Javier Limón
Recorded at Abdala Studio by Melisa Nanni, in April 2009, and Casa Limón by Salomé Limón
Mixed and Mastered by Melisa Nanni, Caco Refojo
Executive Production: Lorena Salcedo, Eva Alcantara, Mariana Gyalui
Cover Painting by Choco Diseño
Design: Mucho
Photography: Javier Limón
Review:
If only we could open up a Barcelona/New York/Havana touring circuit, then we wouldn’t be missing out on some cool, genre-redefining collaborations between Cuban musicians and those in Spain. Bassist and producer Javier Limon has been a behind-the-scenes presence on many of the jazz recordings from Spain that have been turning heads. Limon paired Chucho Valdes, the legendary Cuban pianist, with Afro flamenco jazz vocalist Concha Buika, who goes by her last name only, for a record dedicated to Mexican ranchera singer Chavela Vargas. Valdes accompanies like the best jazz pianists. Buika bends notes, belts it out, coos, does that cool Moorish-influenced flamenco vocal trill and laments like the best jazz ballad singers with a dark, rich voice that commands attention. El Ultimo Trago certainly blurs the lines between genres. Or maybe it’s just reminding us of what jazz, Cuban rhythms and flamenco have in common: Africa. Whatever: It’s the one CD that made me stop in my tracks during a year full of great music.
Felix Contreras (npr)
