Authentic latin music, not for Starbucks franchisees

Like most Altsounds readers, when I hear the term "World Music" I usually run a mile. If it doesn't have a wrecking floor tom, Korg X50 or a Gibson Les Paul all over it then my ignorant western ears just don't wanna know. That makes me a chump, no doubt, and records like "Seis Poemas" only go to show that if you bury your head in the sand then you deserve to get your butt kicked.

Susana Baca was born in Peru in 1944, a descendant of African slaves brought to the country by the Conquistadors in the sixteenth century. Despite initially becoming a teacher, the family's musical roots - her sister was a singer and her father was a regular neighbourhood street performer - meant that an arts career was almost predestined. Debuting in 1987 with "Poesia y Canto Negro," by 2002 she'd won a Latin Grammy for "Lamento Negro."

In abandoning any preconceptions here you're likely to come to one conclusion, as on the proviso that the mind is open enough, "Seis Poemas" is a record of profound intellectual and spiritual fulfilment. For years Baca has been using the work of pre-eminent songwriter and countryman Chabuca Granda as a source of inspiration, figuratively illustrating a reawakened consciousness in the heritage and culture of Afro-Peruvian existence. As a celebration of his life, here Granda's 'El Bosque Armado,' 'Un Cuente Silencio' and 'El Fusil De Poeta' are all reinterpreted along with 'Los Logartes,' a piece by prominent twentieth century Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca. There are elements of jazz and folk at work, but with a house band of troubadours playing instruments such as a cajon (Literally a wooden box) and Baca's sophisticated but plaintive voice, this is music a world away from the bossanova junk they play in your average salsa bar. And in a entertainment industry where the word beautiful is tossed around like confetti, the haunting resonance of traditional folk song 'Harawi' is simply breathtaking.

Released on David Byrne's seminal Luaka Bop label - whose 1995 compilation "Soul of Black Peru "brought Baca to the world's attention - "Seis Poemas" is proof that Latin music is owned by it's people, rather than sweater wearing, mustachioed twerps from Greenwich Village. Now you're excused. Feel free to go back to your Atreyu records.