Peruvian Music: Susana Baca

Susana Baca
Susana Baca

Susana Baca's musical aptitudes came to public attention early in her life, when she formed an experimental band. Her splendid voice didn't go unnoticed, and soon the great composer and singer Chabuca Granda became her mentor. However, before a much desired record could see the light, Granda passed away. Susana Baca thus decided to recover Afro-Peruvian music, travelling some 600km to study and collect everything about the history of black people in Peru.

It was not until 1995 that she was brought to the world's attention by Luka Bop, David Byrne's recording company, through a compilation album, Afro-Peruvian Classics, where Baca featured with just on one song: María Landó. Two years later, she borrowed her name to her first production, an album of unhurried, almost bare rhythms (for the most part just guitar and cajón) and emotional lyrics, immersed in melancholy and nostalgia. Considered by many to be her best work.

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