PERUVIAN Susana Baca and Cuban Argelia Fragoso are two divas of Latin American song. To paraphrase verses from the hit single “Latinoamérica” by Calle 13, they draw the path they walk and sing to be heard.
Baca, pride of Latin American and Caribbean art and culture, is a key figure of Latin American folklore, with her rich and evocative voice, instantly recognizable. Argelia, meanwhile, is known for her contralto register and impressive musicality. The two have joined forces in what they have termed a nueva diablura (new devilry).
The album is being recorded in Havana and was thought up last year when Susana Baca visited the island to participate in the Third Meeting of Popular Voices, which Argelia presides.
With their passion for music, the two have devised “an album to fall in love with,” as they told Granma International in a brief interview before the presentation of the book, El amargo camino de la caña dulce (The bitter path of sugar cane), co-authored by Susana Baca and her husband, sociologist Ricardo Pereira, in the Casa de las Américas.
The singer,researcher and writerexplainedthat the book “is a tribute to our ancestorsin Peru.Those men andwomen whosepersonalityand cultural heritagemadeour country great, wherewe continue to demand justice, as for example, we Afro-descendants arenot considered inthe Constitution.”
With great passion, Baca also spoke about a school of campesino music they have created 150 kilometers from Lima, “to train young people who are unable to continue studying,” and she invited Argelia Fragoso to conduct a workshop for the students.
In conversation with Susana Baca regarding the new album, she noted that she is a lover of all Cuban music. “It’s part of my childhood, my mother was a woman who really enjoyed listening to Bola de Nieve, and danzon, to dance them, she was a great dancer, it was she who got me hooked on Cuban music from an early age. Son for me is a very beautiful musical creation because, and I've been able to experience it here for a few years, the artists improvise and this is a wonderful creative work.”
She acknowledged that the song “Latinoamérica”byCalle 13, on which she features, “is part of our lives, it speaks of all of us, our struggles, it talks of our dreams, young people cry when they hear it, it was a stroke of genius by these Puerto Rican brothers, Residente and Visitante, who are very good musicians.”
Speaking with regard to the album she’s currently recording with Argelia in the Abdala studios, the 2002 Latin Grammy Award winner for her album Lamento Negro, which includes songs with lyrics based on poems by Pablo Neruda and César Vallejo, termed it “a nueva diablura, we thought it up to get together and make new roots, and hopefully it will make us all happier. It's an album about romance in Latin America, there are boleros, Peruvian waltzes, a tango.”
Although she didn’t specify any of the track titles, she stated that she sought “those songs that are very traditional and by authors that for me are poets such as Manuel Acosta, Felipe Pingl, Alberto Condemarín and naturally Chabuca Granda, someone ahead of her time who knew how to maintain the mestiza roots of the Peruvian waltz.”
Baca, who has performed in some of the most important world cultural venues, added that on completing the recording of the new album, produced by Cuban record label Colibrí and Peruvian label Pregón, she will return to Peru to mix and master of the tracks and the finished piece could be released by the end of September or the first week of October.
Both she and Argelia Fragoso assured GIthat they will perform a special concert in Havana to launch the album.
With regard to the repertoire, Fragoso explained that, “we shared it out between Peruvian and Cuban song. There are classics from both countries. Also a mixture of cultures, as this year is the centenary of the song “Pensamiento,” which we performed together at the concert last year, and will feature on the album. It's a little of that mixture of Peruvian and Cuban sentiment. That’s the idea, to share music, feelings and touch the deepest fibers of people’s hearts with these songs, which I feel is important to do in these times.”
And the other tracks?: “From the Cuban repertoire there is a broad offer ranging from the traditional to the music of our days, well-known songs that have not been heard in recent years such as “Sombra que besa,” by Isolina Carrillo. There are other songs that we are going to share, from Peru which I sing, it’s a surprise, and also Susana integrates a very classic Cuban repertoire, seen in both ways, the Cuban and Peruvian.”
You mean there are duets on the album?: “Yes, we each present a number of songs from our own country, the album has about 11-12 tracks, and for example Susana has a very fine repertoire, the Peruvian waltz that defines them par excellence, like the bolero does us, and then we come together in other songs.”
Tell me about the Fourth Meeting of Popular Voices: “It will be from September 28 to October 4. We already have the guests: Tania Libertad, after 21 years away from Cuba, and Jorge Drexler (Academy Award winner for Best Original Song for Al otro lado del río from the film, The Motorcycle Diaries).”
Those are big names...: “They are artists with whom I have shared in concert across the world, and I've always thought that the most important thing is that the Cuban public knows firsthand these great figures that travel the world making good music, taking culture to every home. I always say that we artists often speak of our hits but one’s audience is unaware of them, to bring them here so the public can enjoy great voices, from great people of world culture, is the best thing I can do, among others, for my Cuban audience.”
Any solo concerts planned?: “I’ll sing, but not my own show. The Meeting is not intended to present my work. It is for those who come, who don’t charge a penny.”
This album, the diablura, that Susana Baca and Argelia Fragoso will gift us with very soon, represents a truly important time for Latin American music. What a pair of special artists, with their unmistakable, prodigious voices!
