Last year, the New York Daily News reported that Afro-Spanish singer Buika was retiring. I asked Buika, who appears at the Howard Theatre tonight, about that.
βMe retiring, I am too young for that,” she said. “What happened was that my previous manager was mad at me that I didnβt want to do a 48-date tour and told everyone I was retiring.” Far from calling it quits, the Miami-based, 40-year-old Buika, whom NPR chose as one of itsΒ 50 Great Voices, is working on multiple projects. Best known for her blend of flamenco, Nina Simone-like jazz, Gypsy melodies, and Mexican ranchera dramatics, the husky-voiced singer says she’s preparing an electronic music project, a poetry book, a movie, as well as a new album with vocals.
While Buika says she struggles sometimes with English, in conversation she conveys her artistic temperament and free spirit with a mix of straightforward and unique phrasing. βI am a little bit enfant terrible,β she says. β I want to do all the music I have the opportunity to do.β Β She says her next album will reflect her longstanding approach to singing and recording. Β βI am not an easy musician to work with…we have to listen to what the music wants and thatβs what makes it difficult to work with me.β
When I suggest the new album will be Afro-flamenco, Buika resists the characterization. βI donβt think of myself as a flamenco singer. I never did,” she says. “Flamenco is a beautiful, amazing but small world.” Β Buika, who was once a Tina Turner impersonator in Las Vegas but has also worked with Cuban jazz pianist Chucho Valdes, adds, βAll of these musics have a certain big energy but they have a limitation.”
Buika says her interest in electronic beats is not new, but has been renewed thanks to her sonβs passions. βBecause my son is 12-years-old and he is getting into music and DJing, he is home everyday with the loud music and my head is going to explode,β she says, laughing. βI am hearing a lot of hiphop. I like those musicsβ-no I love them. The reality is I am an electronic music programmer. That is my first instrument. I did that a long time ago. It was like my secret.”
After appearing in Pedro Almodovarβs movie The Skin I Live In, Β Buika is now working with her brother on her own film, Β From Loneliness to Hell. She filmed it last year and is now working on the soundtrack. βWe did it ourselves [financially]. Itβs about 45 minutes. The reality is the film doesnβt have any place in the film world, but we recorded what we felt,β she says. Β As for her book, she simply notes, βThe poetry is aggressive. Β Itβs not possible to translate it to English. I was trying but I did not like the result.β
Tonight Buika says she will be joined by a guitarist and a percussionist. Look for her to exhibit her adventurous creativity with the band via a vocal range that goes from a sultry breathiness to minimalistic power. βWhen I am singing I donβt want a frontier,” she says. “I want to let my note go as far as she can reach.β
Buika appears at the Howard Theatre tonight at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. $40.