Eco de Sombras (Echo of Shadows)
In her Spanish-language songs about love, heritage, and slavery days, Susana Baca elevates the nearly extinct Afro-Peruvian blues--its sambas,landos, andalcatrazrhythms--to high art. Like Bahia divaVirginia Rodriguesor Cape VerdemornasingerCesaria Evora, Baca is part of a new generation of international female vocalists who take an almost chamber-music approach to their respective styles. On this album, that means augmenting her usual band with such musical guests as keyboardist John Medeski (ofMedeski Martin & Wood) and electric guitaristMarc Ribot(Los Cubanos Postizos), who add almost imperceptible instrumental shimmers to her band's understated yet undeniably robust (and often Cuban-flavored) grooves. Like the blues, Baca's resonant lamentations, sung in a voice reminiscent of antique bamboo, transcend sadness with deeper and subtler emotional flavors.--Richard Gehr