SUSANA BACA/ “The Anchor Song”

Susana Baca is an interpreter of song. On occasion, she writes or arranges lyrics or music, but for the most part, she performs the music of others. Baca doesn’t just sing songs though, she inhabits them. She chooses only songs that have meaning for her, songs that resonate with her either personally or culturally. susana baca 12.jpg On her early albums, Baca performed Peruvian songs almost exclusively, but it’s been ten years since Baca’s international debut. Since then, she’s branched out to sing music from all over the world. Through all of it though, two trademarks remain. The dry, thumping sound of the Peruvian cajon (box drum) and Baca’s sweetly ethereal vocals. After watching Baca and her band perform live, one reviewer was struck by Baca’s seemingly contradictory combination of voice and drum. He wrote: “On tune after tune, Ms. Baca’s gorgeous voice, with its intimations of fragility, repeated phrases with a tranquility that bordered on stillness. The percussionists, using complicated, loping patterns, made a rhythmic mesh behind her that grew solid and intense, only to slip away into languor.” susana baca 10.jpg Baca’s latest album, Travesías, is a collection of songs from Europe, South America and different islands of the Caribbean. We’re going to hear two songs from that album, “Né Quelque Part” (“Born Somewhere”) and “Volcano.” The former is composed by singer-songwriter Maxime le Forestier, a Parisian whose music I’m not familiar with but who has apparently had a long and storied career in his native France. The songs lyrics talk about birth and identity—“One chooses not his parents / One chooses not his family.” On Baca's version, both the heavy backbeat and the Marc Ribot’s rock-style guitar solo are indicative of the ‘internationalization’ of Baca’s sound. (I hesitate to use the word ‘commercialization,’ because none of Baca’s music is particularly commercial. I doubt that a Top 40 hit is in her future.) The second song from Travesías is a cover of “Volcano,” a tune by Irish neo-folk/alternative singer Damien Rice. “Volcano” is one of my favorite songs of recent years. I like the original a lot, but I might like Baca’s cover even more. The instrumentation is absurdly lush, creating a beautiful setting for Baca’s delicate vocals. A few weeks ago, we featured Susana Baca doing a song named “Se Me Van Los Pies” (“I Can’t Stop My Feet”) from her eponymous 1997 album. Five years later, for the Espíritu Vivo album, Baca covered herself, doing a radically different version of “Se Me Van.” I can’t decide which version I like more, the minimalist original version or the almost psychedelic, ‘out’ remake. “It’s a hymn to all rhythms,” says Baca and she could mean either version. “It’s catharsis. The music has to go on.” Another great cover from the Espíritu Vivo album is Baca’s remake of Caetano Veloso’s “13 De Mayo.” Veloso wrote (translated from Portuguese), “May 13th in Santa Amaro / In the Market Square / Black people used to celebrate / Still do, maybe.” The song’s lyrics remind me of New Orleans’ Congo Square, where the slaves used to congregate on Sunday to sing, dance and play the drums. And indeed, Baca comments about the song, “Caetano Veloso tells a story that is common to all people. When there’s something to celebrate, black people have something that is without time, place, language, belonging—it is part of everybody, it is a thread that joins the body with music.” Both of these versions are wonderful—Veloso’s melody sounds like a dancer looks, swaying and bending with the music. We’ll close with my favorite Susana Baca cover—“The Anchor Song,” originally written and performed by the Icelandic chanteuse Björk Guömundsdóttir, who, understandably, records and performs using her first name only. At first, “The Anchor Song”—a hymn to the seductive power of the sea—would seem an odd choice for a black Peruvian to sing, but recall Baca’s description of the small coastal town where she grew up: “There were lovely big houses that faced the ocean, a port, and the population was made up of fishermen….” About “The Anchor Song,” Baca says, “It transports me and I feel it could be mine. That sea, that door to the house, it’s a bridge….” In other words, the ocean is in Baca’s blood. susana baca 07.jpg Of course, the ocean must be in Björk’s blood too, given that she is a native of the island of Iceland. A poet and performance artist who is known for her outlandish costumes and strange, shrill voice, Björk is a bit of an acquired taste, but those who ‘get’ her tend to be fans for life. Her composition “The Anchor Song” is probably best-described as a tone poem. The melody never really develops, instead it shimmers in place, repeating over and over. The lyrics, as well, are very simple. They read, in their entirety:

I live by the ocean And during the night I dive into it Down to the bottom Underneath all currents And drop my anchor And this is where I’m staying This is my home
Baca performs “The Anchor Song” in Spanish, but from what I can tell, it’s faithful to the original—a simple repetition of eight brief phrases. On the original, jazz musician Oliver Lake arranges and plays in the horn section, using brass to imitate the sound of the ocean’s currents. Baca’s take on the tune goes even further, using electronic loops (reminiscent of Hendrix’ “1983… (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)”) to create the ocean sounds. Susana Baca is not only one of the great singers of South American and African-derived music, she is also one of the great interpreters of song. As Baca herself says, she doesn’t sing “purely for the pleasure of making music, but to convey, with drama and joy, that life is stronger than ever, and continues with a Live Spirit.” —Mtume ya Salaam             Fire and water         susana fuego.JPG Susana Baca is without peer. There is a CD that she, Francisco Basili and Ricardo Pereira put together called Del Fuego y Del Agua - Black Contribution to the Formation of Peruvian Popular Music. The music alone makes it a must have for those who study Black music, but there is also a 130-page book with the CD that gives a historical rundown of Black Peru and includes extensive illustrations and photographs. Fuego y Aqua is a work of incredible insight, offering more information than many college ethno-musicology courses. There is nothing comparable to it in terms of an effort by an artist to document and analyze the tradition within which they work. I've included two tracks from that collection which feature Susana singing. The CD also includes a host of other musicians bringing alive traditional Afro-Peruvian music. "Zamba Lando" illustrates the straight-up African side of the popular music and "Aparicion" is based on a waltz that demonstrates how dominant culture forms were adopted and transformed. susana baca 11.jpg Susana Baca is more than a premier performer. To simply call her a "diva" diminishes her contribution. Susana is the Queen Mother/Griot of Afro-Peruvian music. Moreover, I know of no Black singer who occupies a similar position and has done comparable work in both the artistic and intellectual spheres. We have featured Susana Baca for two weeks running and we have only offered an introduction. —Kalamu ya Salaam

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 20th, 2006 at 12:54 am and is filed under Cover. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


One Response to “SUSANA BACA/ “The Anchor Song””

DJM Says:
August 23rd, 2006 at 7:32 am

Hello All,
To share some light on Maxime LF… (http://www.amazon.com/Maxime-Le-Forestier/artist/B000AP72IS/102-0742192-8140163) he’s been singing for years now and is well known for songs during the 70’/hippies/guitar-player folk era… Many of his songs “mean something” (not that usual, you know… 😉
“Etre né quelque part” was a real hit here in France (1988), because text would allow people to think : being equal, having roots and so on… plus the choirs are beautiful to me… between gospel and south africa…
Susana’s version is lighter, more “inside”…

Now Maxime LF tours France most of the time, singing songs from another famous (dead) French text writer/guitar player/singer : Georges Brassens and released many albums with these live covers.

DJM from France

PS : been visiting your site for months… keep on the good work… Have plenty of African music starting in the 50’s in case you’d be interested in a selection, but I can’t write texts the way both of you do, specially in English 😉


Leave a Reply



| top |