Track of the day: ‘Sorongo’ by Susana Baca

Susana Baca has released 'Sorongo' the second track to be taken from her forthcoming album 'Palabras Urgentes.'

Immersed in her country’s political landscape Susana Baca has come to understand and value the importance of being the heir to singers that once sung for liberty, social equality and for the end of racism and with ‘Sorongo’ Baca embraces her role fully with a song written by Tite Curet Alonso, one of the great salsa composers, renowned for the social consciousness that ran through his work.

Baca calls ‘Sorongo’ “a document of our life and its energy is birthed by the union of rhythm and soul. It finds a way to be both a song of the Caribbean and a song of the universe,” as it addresses the inequalities of Peru’s past with the most powerful weapon to fight injustice: knowledge.

Tite Curet was a prolific writer, originally from Puerto Rico, who penned more than 2,000 songs in a thirty year career and ‘Sorongo’ was first released by his friend Rafael Cortijo Y Su Bonche in the late 1960s. More recently the song was recorded by Calle 13 (who also collaborated with Susana Baca on the Latin GRAMMY winning song ‘Latinoamerica’.)

LISTEN to Sorongo

Susana Baca - Sorongo (Official Video)
Within 'Sorongo', one can find intuition, strength, feeling and enunciation. I spent many nights trying to find the right way of singing 'Sorongo'… in the end it is only with the presence of the musicians that accompanied me that it found vitality. I am sure that 'Sorongo' is faith found at the crossroad between feelings and rhythm. Susana Baca

Palabras Urgentes is a collection of 10 songs that attempts to bottle the heritage and tradition of those that once fought for a better world. It was recorded in Cañete, a small town located 150 kilometres from Peru’s Capital, and the songs are given added life by the presence and support of Michael League of the emblematic New York band Snarky Puppy whose production (alongside Fab Dupont) brings a universal and contemporary sound to the album.

“Sorongo is a very interesting track because of its history with Calle 13 and because it’s a powerhouse track on a record that doesn’t really have powerhouse tracks,” says League. “This is like a freight train and stands apart from the rest of the record in that way but Susana was really, really adamant about feeling Africa in Sorongo, so we made a lot of really interesting decisions during the recording process about textures and sounds and structure to make you feel the connection between the sugar fields in Peru and the African roots of the people who were enslaved and working them.”

Palabras Urgentes is out on 8th October on Real World Records. Two tracks, ‘La herida Oscura’ and ‘Sorongo’ are now available on all digital platforms.

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Featured Release

  • Palabras Urgentes

    Susana Baca

    Released 08 October 2021

    In the 50th year of her musical career Susana Baca has no intention of surrendering her creativity to the will of others and Palabras Urgentes is not just another album in her discography. It is more than that. It is a musical creation, a collection of songs, intended to take on today’s difficult times.

By Online Editor

Main image: Susana Baca on the set of her video for 'Sorongo'.

Published on Tue, 07 September 21

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