On "Jodida pero Contenta," ("Screwed but Happy"), which Concha Buika calls her theme song, the Afro-Spanish singer turns a painful post-mortem of love gone wrong into a euphoric declaration of independence. Propelled by an elated mix of flamenco, jazz, and Cuban soul, Buika's throaty vocals cut deep then reach higher, testifying to her unbound approach to her music and her life. That free spirit moves throughout her latest album Mi Niña Lola (Casa Limón/Atlantic), which the Spanish newspaper El Pais deemed "a revolution."  

Pronounced "magnificent" by the New York Times after her recent New York concert debut, Buika is an emotional and exhilarating performer who quickly converts audiences to her boundless view of life and music. Hers is a voice of true flamenco for today, and she has emerged as Spain's leading and most original young interpreter of the Andalusian torch songs called coplas, performing both classics like "Mi Niña Lola (My Little Girl Lola) "Ojos Verdes" (Green Eyes), and her own compositions. Buika and her band on Spanish guitar, cajón, drums and piano go further with a fusion that encompasses jazz, r&b and Latin rhythms. Wrapped in a silk shawl, her bare feet peeking out from a skirt with her typical elegant-bohemian style, Buika can swing, scat and dance her way through a freestyle Latin jazz improvisation, then sit perfectly still for an intimate and enrapturing a capella flamenco ballad.  

"All Buika needed was her voice to summon the music's complex past, its possibilities and, above all, its passionate immediacy," wrote Times critic Jon Pareles.