Susanna Baca

Susana Baca should be hailed as the savior of Afro-Peruvian music; without her, the world would have no idea just how soulful Peruvian music can get.

Sounding something like Miriam Makeba meets Aretha Franklin in Spanish with Latino rhythms, Baca, born in 1944 in Chorrillos, an African-Peruvian neighborhood of Lima, is without a doubt Peru's soul queen.

Her newest release, Seis Poemas, is a tribute to the Peruvian folk singer Chabuca Granda (1920-1983), who depicted the beautiful simplicity of Peruvian peasant life and was an icon to the progressive movements and musicians across Latin America.

Baca's first boost into the world spotlight came in 1995, when she recorded "Maria Lando," the opening track on Afro-Peruvian Classics: Soul of Black Peru, released on Luaka Bop, David Byrne's world music record label, created expressly for the purpose of internationally releasing lost nuggets of Afro-Peru and other world music phenomena.

Other particularly impressive recordings from Baca's back catalog include the Grammy Award-winning Lamento Negro, as well as Eco de Sombras and Espiritu Vivo. These last two were recorded with two of New York City's finest avant-garde players from the Downtown jazz scene: guitarist Marc Ribot and keyboardist John Medeski of Medeski, Martin & Wood.

While she has an international reputation as a singer, Baca is also often referred to as an academic researcher, for her essays on the history of African-Peruvian music. But, as she tells The Prague Post, she is a musician first and foremost.

"The truth is that I am not a researcher. I am just curious, and in my youth, I wanted to know more about the black people that lived in Peru. I started by asking questions to my mother, my aunts, my teachers, and later reading books I could get my hands on. So little by little, I learned something. Later in the university, I learned how to do research, and I started to do more serious research about music and folk customs, and other expressions," she says.

"But my artistic career has always been first. However, there is a connection between the results of my research and my artistic career."

Until recently, Afro-Peruvian music was marginalized. Incredible Afro-Peruvian composers and their songs were long forgotten. It is only due to efforts by Baca and others that this music has not only been revived, but has also started to be acceptable to mainstream Peruvian culture.

For Baca's Prague debut approximately two years ago, the Lucerna Music Bar wasn't very crowded, but Baca's fans - particularly the women -were brought to tears over some of the songs.

"When my compatriots come to my concerts, it is a subtle joy, but it gets stronger as they feel the nostalgia, longing for family, and the people suffer and cry. The music is evocative. I have even seen Germans cry, when I expect they might speak no Spanish, but they feel something that my soul has transmitted to them," she says.

For her upcoming performance in Prague, Baca will be joined by Ernesto Hermoza on guitar, Hugo Bravo on percussion and Oscar Huaranga on acoustic bass, all of whom also sing. Baca says she is looking forward to seeing Prague again, as she fondly recalls her last visit to the city.

"Even though I only had a little time, I had a nice tour with a handsome young man, and we walked all the way to Kafka's house. I had read a short history of the formation of the Czech Republic and admired the struggle of the Czech people. I admired the life of the hero who was condemned to death, and by chance they put me up in a hotel named after him," she says.

Then she notes, sounding more like a researcher than a diva, "I want to know more about the country's history."

Tony Ozuna can be reached at
features@praguepost.com