BUIKA - Flamenco Star at The Union Chapel London

18 April 2013 07:00 PM

 Hailed as a star in contemporary flamenco, Buika is blessed with a remarkable voice; raw and smoky but with a tenderness that hits right at the heart. Her 2010 album El Ultimo Trago, a collaboration with the great Cuban pianist Chucho Valdes, won her a Latin Grammy Award.

A brilliant and truly innovative talent, Buika has consistently invigorated the flamenco genre while maintaining a strong connection to the music's roots and incorporating influences from jazz, blues and African music to stirring effect.

Buika is the daughter of political refugees from the African nation of Equatorial Guinea and grew up in a gypsy neighbourhood in Majorca. Flamenco was an open door, remembers Buika: "It’s not just about music, it's a way of life. It's about not running away from yourself. Some people sing about what they would like to happen or would like to be, but in the copla and el cante, we confront who we are, with all our fears and all our defects. In the United States there’s also a great tradition like this: it's called the blues."

Buika's fans include high profile Spanish and Latin luminaries such as Alejandro Sanz, Gloria Estefan, Nelly Furtado and Portuguese fado star Mariza (both of whom she recorded duets with), director Pedro Almodóvar in whose film La Piel Que Habito (The Skin I Live In) she performed, fashion photographer Bruce Weber, and the late great iconic Mexican singer Chavela Vargas.

This will be her first headline show in London since 2008.
"Luminous...magnificent...superb!" New York Times

Website: http://buikamusic.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BuikaMusic

Twitter: @buikamusic

"Y Quién soy yo + Nostalgias" (live performance): http://youtu.be/ESiFCsBMoho
"En Mi Piel" (studio performance): http://youtu.be/fbzmFYORmv0
Live at Copenhagen Jazz Festival 2012: http://youtu.be/dYBLM_z_vco