Buika - "Flamenco Queen" - plays Fairfield University's Quick Center for the Arts October 29

Buika - "Flamenco Queen" - plays Fairfield University's Quick Center for the Arts October 29

Buika Buika, "one of today's hottest world music artists" according to The New York Times , will perform at Fairfield University's Quick Center for the Arts on Friday, Oct. 29 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25. Buika and her band is a presentation of Arts & Minds and is a feature of the university's Global Citizenship focus .

"You have to want to sing about the many parts of who you are, not just the pretty things, or the things you think are cute," says Spanish singer Buika. "Because the art of a person is sometimes in their pain. It's everywhere and I think one must live openly, bravely, and tell it like it is at every moment, as if you were breathing."

This kind of risk taking and Buika's remarkable and widely acclaimed talent is what made The New York Times' music critic Jon Pareles classify her live New York City debut at the Brooklyn Academy of Music as nothing short of "magnificent."

In Miami and Washington D.C. audiences were enthralled by the way in which Buika effortlessly straddled the musical sources of multiple continents without becoming entangled in any one particular idiom. In Mexico her concerts made a fan and musical godmother out of the legendary octogenarian songstress Chavela Vargas. In a relatively short time span Buika has gone from struggling artist to a trailblazing force in contemporary Spanish music. She is at the crossroads of many genres - a place where jazz, funk, flamenco, copla and neo-soul come together in a sublime, musical pact.

Born on the island of Mallorca to parents who were political exiles from Equatorial Guinea, Buika grew up in a poor neighborhood in the island's capital city, Palma de Mallorca, in a house, as she describes it, "filled with people, food and music." She grew up singing and playing instruments - guitar, piano, bass and recently, she has taken up cello.

Buika's relationship to music is organic and primitive: "I am African and an African does not have musical training ," she explains. "An African can't live without music. Like meals, music was part of our daily life. There has always been music in my head and in my heart."

Backing Buika is a band of three Cuban jazz musicians with worldwide reputations: Iván "Melón" Lewis, Danny Noel and Fernando Favier.

Lewis received his classical music training from the prestigious National School of Art (ENA). He has toured throughout Latin America, Europe, the United States and Canada.

Noel, based in Madrid, toured the world with Horacio "el Negro" Hernandez in the Latin jazz band, Italuba, for eight years.

Favier, also based in Madrid, is known as one of the masters of percussion for his work in flamenco during the last ten years. He regularly collaborates with renowned artists such as Joaquin Cortes, Alejandro Sanz, Angelique Kidjo, Antonio Carmona and of course, Buika.

Buika is funded in part by the Expeditions program of the New England Foundation for the Arts. Her appearance is made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and with additional support from the six New England state arts agencies.

Tickets are available at fairfield.edu/quick or by calling the Box Office at (203) 254-4010. The toll free number is 1-877-ARTS-396. Special offers and discounts are available through the Quick Center's e-mail list. Join, by contacting boxoffice@quickcenter.com . And become a fan of the Quick Center for the Arts on Facebook! Keep up-to-date with the latest performance news, plus special offers and discounts! Find the Quick Center at www.facebook.com/FairfieldQuickCenter.

Directions: Fairfield University is located off I-95, exit 22 at 1073 North Benson Road, Fairfield, CT 06824. Access to the Quick Center for the Arts is through the Barlow Road gate at 200 Barlow Road.

Special note: From Oct. 4, 2010 through June 30, 2012, the southern end of North Benson Road (Rt. 135) will be closed to traffic on nights and weekends. Round Hill Road intersects with Barlow and provides access to the Quick Center for the Arts.

Posted On: 10-08-2010 10:10 AM

Volume: 43 Number: 72