Eco de Sombras: Echo of Shadows

Performer: Susana Baca
Artist: Marc Ribot; Greg Cohen; David Byrne; Cyro Baptista
Engineer: Danny Kopelson
Producer: Craig Street
Distributor: Alternative Dis. Alliance

Notes: Personnel includes: Susana Baca (vocals); Pat Munoz (acoustic guitar, background vocals); David Byrne (guitar, charrango); Marc Ribot (guitar); Greg Leisz (pedal steel); Rob Burger (accordion, organ); John Medeski (piano, organ); David Pinto (bass, background vocals); Greg Cohen (bass); Hugo Bravo (congas, percussion, background vocals); Cyro Baptista (percussion). Recorded at Susana Baca's House, Lima, Peru; Sear Sound, Big House Recording, and Effanel Music, New York, New York. Includes liner notes by Giuliana Mazzetti. On this record Susana Baca delivers yet another solid example of why she is the queen of Afro-Peruvian music. These songs drift by like time in a crowded dirt-floor bar, like the hard sweet-sour of well-made cuba libre. A band composed mostly of well-schooled New York session players provides competent backing. Baca's voice is smooth, her songs and world darkly sinister. Anyone into the sounds of her neck of the woods or serious female singers with a unique voice like Cesaria Evoria will certainly enjoy this. Yet another worthy effort from a woman who refuses to pander to the nouveau hippie crowd. ~ Rob Ferrier

Rolling Stone (4/13/00, p.131) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...Continues to open borders, combining the historic sounds of black Peru with the contributions of avant-garde musicians....Baca captures history even as she transcends it." Spin (4/00, p.201) - "...Baca keeps her miraculous ensemble and gets accessorized by pop-jazz stylist Craig Street, who wisely gives her close-miked vowels plenty of room." Q (8/00, p.96) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Showcases [her] pure, melancholic vocals alongside a cool backdrop of Spanish guitar, percussion and bass....when she lightens up...the world seems a better place." The Wire (6/00, p.64) - "...An alluring and thoughtfully balanced set, mixing new with adapted traditional songs." CMJ (4/00, p.44) - "...[her] rich, sensual vocal takes center stage....Her ballads smolder, and her up-tempo numbers are striking for their depth....[the] grooves are elastic...while guitar, wooden box percussion, and bass alone etch complex rhythmic beds..." Mojo (Publisher) (6/00, p.112) - "...The relaxed intimacy is obvious from the first notes of 'De Los Amores'. This has class stomped all over it....sounding like slick late-night lounge lizards..."

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