BUIKA October 28, 2010

Adult $32 | University Park Student $10 | 18 and Younger $22

“Sad love, crazy love, bad love, joyful love, life-or-death love: those were what Concha Buika sang about in her magnificent New York City debut … . While the lyrics were in Spanish, the emotion was luminous and unmistakable,” writes a New York Times reviewer. “Buika, as she bills herself, is a Spanish singer and songwriter who has conceived her own diaspora: one in which the Gypsies, who catalyzed flamenco, crossed the Atlantic to meet Cuban music and jazz. Her music is the rare fusion that honors all its sources.” Buika (pronounced BWEE-kah), the daughter of political refugees from the tiny West African nation Equatorial Guinea, grew up on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca. The dynamic, husky-voiced singer came of age in a Gypsy neighborhood listening to flamenco, jazz, soul, and African music. Her 2008 recording Niña de Fuego earned a Latin Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. El Último Trajo, released in 2009, is her collaboration with Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés.

Official Website: http://www.cpa.psu.edu/events/buika.html