Singing The Flamenco Blues: The Unique Sound Of Concha Buika

It’s hard to pin down exactly what category Concha Buika’s music falls into, drawing influences from the flamenco music of her childhood in Majorca, her family roots in Equatorial Guinea, and the jazz and blues of America. One thing, though, is clear: her distinct sound is as unique as it is diverse, and it’s guaranteed to secure her a place among the greats of music history.

When many of the legends of jazz and blues sing in their gravelly tones – Nina Simone; Billie Holiday; Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt – it attests to a lifetime of pain and suffering; of heartache and disappointments; of loves lost and dreams shattered. It also, perhaps, attests to a lifetime of smoking. Yet Concha Buika – whose rasping and intense voice has been likened to all of the above – has always sung this way. Indeed, her blues-infused voice, so unfamiliar in the setting of Majorca – where Buika grew up – almost halted her musical career before it had begun when, aged eight, she was kicked out of the school choir for having a voice that was described as ‘like a dog’. Taking her mother aside, the choirmaster told her that Concha should instead concentrate on her Bible studies.

Then the title track for the following album Mi niña Lola (My baby girl Lola, 2006), reached the top of every chart on Spain, and her destiny was sealed. Since then, she has released three more albums; Niña de Fuego (Girl of Fire, 2008); El ultimo Trago (The last drink, 2009); and in June this year she released the latest, La Noche Más Larga, to universal acclaim and an audience stretching far beyond Spain, taking in fans in Europe and the US. She sings in English, Spanish and Portuguese; listening to her songs, even if you don’t understand the words, the emotions are communicated with a calm clarity.
While her affinity for music is innate, Concha Buika does not tie herself down to just one artistic discipline. This year, she is releasing her second book of poems; further, she is also releasing a film based on one of the stories in this book. Singer; poet; filmmaker; Buika’s creative output is as diverse as the music itself, and she refuses to be pinned down to one category. Perhaps it is her diasporic past, or her peripatetic lifestyle; or perhaps it is simply the result of an artist who acts purely on instinct, rather than in response to externally imposed categories. Whatever the reason, it can clearly be said that Buika is unique; as she herself said in an interview with CBC: ‘I do not know what or who is subversive; my name Concha Buika.’

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