“Íntima”: the tribute album to Chabuca Granda that sets unpublished poems to music

This Sunday, the unforgettable big chabuca would have turned 103, and in honor of her legacy, “Intima” will be released, an album that presents unpublished poems by the artist, now set to music by prominent artists from various parts of the world who find a point of union in the Peruvian artist. This musical tribute comes as a love letter to the interpreter of “La flor de la Canela”, whose influence continues to resonate in different generations.

The genesis of this ambitious project is found in the discovery of unpublished poems by Chabuca Granda in the book “Cantarureando/Canterurias”, a double-cover collection with more than 100 unpublished songs by Chabuca where verses of love, melancholy and loneliness appear. “I felt that an extensive horizon was opening up for me and that was when I thought I could take on the challenge of putting them to music.,” says the manager, director and general producer of this record, Susana Roca Rey.

The result of this meticulous selection are 13 songs that capture the essence of Chabuca’s poems in a fresh and diverse way. “The selection was not easy,” admits Susana, ” I read the poems many times and imagined sitting with Chabuca in a studio casting the candidates.”

This meticulous process was accompanied by the musician and producer Julio Caipo, who was in charge of most of the arrangements, as well as the recording, mixing and mastering of the album in his studio. Despite assuming all these roles, Caipo left great freedom to national and international composers who also provided a unique proposal to enrich the selected texts.

Chabuca and his friends

Among the musicians participating in this project are names such as Daniela Darcourt (Peru), Sandra Peralta (Argentina), Antonio Carmona (Spain), Larissa Sánchez (Peru), Augusto Gil (Peru), Lidia Barroso (Argentina), Emy Castro (Peru), Soledad Giménez (Spain), Fernando de Luca (Argentina), Carmina Cannavino (Peru), Regina Días (Brazil), Victoria Sur (Colombia), Lourdes Carhuas (Peru) and Omar Camino (Peru). All of them were chosen for their musical experience and some connection to Chabuca’s work.

“I turned to noted music composers who I thought could create the right music for these fine poems.,” explains Susana when talking about her criteria for selecting collaborators. “I also summoned artists of other nationalities such as Argentina, Colombia, Spain and Brazil with the purpose of getting out of the traditional, because I believe that it is always assumed that Chabuca’s poems are waltzes”adds the producer, who thought that the poems should have international rhythms such as the chacarera, flamenco, bolero, landó, bossa nova, among others, because the legacy of the honoree is not only in Peru.

One of the most excited to be part of this collaboration is Soledad Jiménez, who finds in Chabuca a great representative of Peruvian culture and the feminine brand in musical composition. “I think that the image of Chabuca is completed with this new album that has collaborations and unpublished poems” says the artist. For his part, the Spanish musician Antonio Carmona thinks the same. “What she has written is relevant to musicians around the world. It’s for something called: freedom” affirms the singer who believes that the themes of Chabuca are still valid. “Young people may like her because they find a link with the freedom that she proclaims in her songs.”.

This musical tribute also carries a powerful sentimental charge, since the singer Carmina Cannavino, who lived in Mexico, accepted Susana’s invitation despite suffering from a serious terminal illness. Carmina came to Peru and recorded what would be her last performance before her sad departure, but not before leaving her talent immortalized along with the lyrics of the eternal Chabuca Granda who, despite leaving on March 8, 1983, still has things to show us