LA NOCHE MÁS LARGA (THE LONGEST NIGHT in English) is the sixth album from Latin Grammy
winner: Concha Buika, her first with new material since releasing the best
of compilation EN MI PIEL (THE SKIN I LIVE IN) in 2011. A lot has happened in her life since then
The songs she recorded for Almodóvar’s THE SKIN I LIVE IN catapulted her to international fame, leading to longer and more successful tours. “I’ve continued to grow since then”, she says, making it clear that success has not changed her, because “everything I’ve sung, I’ve sung with the same heart".
Buika
is marked by the highly regarded National Public Radio
in the U.S. as among the 50 best
vocalists of all time. Hailing from the Balearic Islands in Spain and combining her native culture along with that of her Guinean parents, Buika breaks down walls that surround flamenco, the root source of
everything she does. The New York Times has described her
voice as “something like
Nina Simone’s but more flexible and virtuosic.''
Review
It has been five years since Concha Buika released Ultimo Trago, her tribute
to ranchera legend Chavela Vargas in collaboration with Cuban pianist Chucho
Valdés. She's also had her songs used in Pedro Almodovar's La Piel que
Habito, authored two books, toured relentlessly, and relocated from Spain to
Miami, Florida. On La Noche Mas Larga she has continued her musical evolution
from her beginnings as a dynamic neuvo flamenco singer to a true stylist who
weaves the roots, passion, and skill of that music into everything from
Afro-Cuban styles, jazz, and even R&B. Co-produced by herself, pianist Ivan
“Melon” Lewis, and percussionist Ramon Porrina, Buika reveals herself as an
accomplished songwriter on nearly half these tunes. Recorded in Madrid, Miami,
and New York, she surrounded herself with many familiar musicians including
bassist Alain Perez and guitarist Juan Jose Suarez (aka “El Paquete”), as
well as enlisting New York Latin jazz players like drummer Dafnis Prieto, to
name one. “Seboney” showcases a flamenco jazz vocal inside an arrangement
that melds conga-driven rhumba to funk. Her reading of Jacques Brel's “If You
Go Away” (“Ne Me Quitte Pas”) is transformed from a ballad to a 6/8
flamenco-infused Cuban jazz cooker that features some scatting, and for all its
revisioning, still feels raw and sensual and mournful. Carlos Sarduy's muted
trumpet aids in the slower Afro-Cuban groove that underscores “La Nave del
Olvido.” There is a pair of jazz standards here too, and though sung in
English, they're completely re-arranged. “Don't Explain” is closely
associated with Billie Holiday. This version is a swinging flamenco reading that
evokes the spirit of jazz while never diving fully into it. Set-closer “Throw
It Away” is an Abbey Lincoln signature piece. Buika's version, driven by
Pérez's funky electric bassline, nonetheless employs the heart of flamenco as
it meets neo-soul and modern jazz. “Como Era,” an original, commences as a
lilting ballad but gradually takes on a fingerpopping R&B groove. Buika's
“Los Solos” suggests timba highlighted by bata drums. Her title track is a
mysterious ballad that marries flamenco rhythms and dynamics to jazz syncopation
and an elegiac yet sensual melody. Speaking of ballads, guitarist Pat Metheny
appears on the smoky, aching “No Lo Se.” With gorgeous production, creative
vision, and an ambitious reach combined with poetic lyricism and musical
sophistication, La Noche Mas Larga displays Buika's truly singular power as a
singer; she can not only can inject flamenco's soul into virtually anything she
sings, she can push hard at its walls convincingly, and without abandoning it.
This is her masterpiece to date. Thom Jurek – AllMusic