The Bottom Line
Pros
- Spanish torch music for your sad, romantic soul
Cons
- None
Description
- 11 tracks of Spanish copla fused with flamenco,jazz and other Afro-Caribbean rhythms
- Produced by Javier Limon
- Released August 2008 by Warner Music Latina
Guide Review - Music Review: Buika - 'Nina De Fuego'
Concha Buika (Maria Concepcion Balboa Buika) is from the Spanish island of Mallorca where her family moved as political refugees from Equatorial Guinea. There she became familiar with Spanish coplas and while ‘copla’ literally means verse, the term has come to describe a heartfelt ballad in the flamenco tradition.
Nina de Fuego is actually her 3rd album although only 2007’s Mi Nina Lola has been released in the U.S. I liked Mi Nina Lola, but nothing like Nina de Fuego which has got to be one of the most poignant, beautiful and moving albums I’ve heard in ages.
Buika’s voice is unusual with an earthy, gravelly timbre that is made for a torch singer and that’s what these songs are – songs of love won, lost or gone wrong. The arrangements are spare but impeccable providing a simple but very effective framework that allows Buika to wring every bit of emotion from the verses in a manner that is startling personal and aided by a great sense of timing. Her style is unique and soulful.
The 11 tracks on Nina de Fuego work well together, a good mix of traditional copla, some fused with more flamenco and jazz, others with rumba and other Afro-Caribbean rhythms. Buika also adds ranchera to her repetoire with a very slow but effective version of the standard “Volver, Volver” and “Mienteme Bien”, composed by Buika herself.
Produced by Javier Limon, who also provides the album with wonderful guitar accompaniments and with the Ivan Lewis on the piano, this is one sensational CD. If you’re not familiar with the genre but like the music of Nina Simone or Sarah Vaughn, give this version of the Spanish ‘blues’ a try. You won’t be disappointed.
