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SUSANA BACA

(Luaka Bop/Warner Bros.)

A highlight on the 1995 Afro-Peruvian music compilation Soul of Black Peru (Luaka Bop) was the haunting, pristine singing of Susana Baca. She grew up in the black coastal barrio of Chorrillos, outside Lima, and her devotion to folkloric research as well as to musical performance has put her at the forefront of Peru's black music scene. On her full-length debut, she builds songs around sparse, humble instrumentation -- acoustic guitar, bass, conga, and clay pot, embellished with the rhythms of the cajón, a deep-toned wooden box played with the hands from a straddled position, and the cajita, a toylike box with a lid that's opened and shut rhythmically.

Baca's material is assembled from local and family songs, Andean melodies, West African polyrhythms, and romantic Spanish guitar stylings. A distant, enigmatic mood pervades many of the compositions, creating an atmosphere that is at once sophisticated and earthy. Carefully but not overly produced, Susana Baca marks the emergence of a promising international talent.

-- Alan Waters

(Susana Baca performs this Sunday, October 5, at Johnny D's. Call 776-2004.)