Buika, El Ultimo Trago

Buika, the soulful Majorcan singer known for her jazzy take on Spanish flamenco fusion, collaborates with renowned Cuban bandleader and pianist Chucho Valdés on El Último Trago, an homage to the ballads made famous by Mexican icon Chavela Vargas. Buika's star has risen quickly over the past couple of years, on the strength of 2008's Niña de Fuego, which received a surprise—though well-deserved—Latin Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. Valdés, for his part, is Cuba's most celebrated jazz artist, having formed and led the groundbreaking group Irakere over the past 30-plus years. The combination of Buika's plaintive yet powerful vocals with Valdés' incomparable work on the keys results in a truly outstanding recording, a dynamic re-imagining of these relatively simple, classic boleros and rancheras that truly have stood the test of time.