Because of her passionate style, she was compared to the legendary Camaron de la Isla. La Susi’s early raw and wild energy mellowed a little with time. The essence of her art is reflected in her album. ‘Agua de mayo,’ (Water of May) produced in Cordoba by Queco, for whom Susi only has words of gratefulness. The letter of presentation, the appetizer of the album, is a tangos piece titled ‘El tarro de la esencia.’ (The Jar of Essence).
Born in Alicante in 1955, Encarnación Amador Santiago, better known as La Susi, was raised in a large family full of artists. He father, José María Amador, was an antiques dealer and played guitar at home. Her grandfather was a dancer and she has nine brothers who either sing or dance, although not all are professionals. Among them are some well known performers, such as guitarist Joaquín Amador and cantaor (singer) Juan José Amador.
La Susi was fourteen when she traveled to Madrid, together with her brother Joaquín, to try to earn a living. She began as a flamenco dancer at the legendary ‘Cuevas de Nemesio,’ where, just a few days later, the most important flamenco performers would show up to see that little Gypsy girl from Alicante that danced out of this world.
La Susi was there hardly one month and then she was booked by Villa Rosa and from there, without interruption, she ended up at some of the best flamenco nightclubs: Torres Bermejas, Las Brujas, Los Canasteros. One of those endless nights at Las Brujas, Paco de Lucía offered to record her first album and she accepted.
Her first album was produced by Paco’s father, who was also the producer of Camarón de la Isla. She was only 17 and, from that moment, she has never stopped singing.
For years, La Susi toured with Paco de Lucía and Camarón de la Isla, captivating audiences with her gut wrenching style of flamenco song. Heavily influenced by the old masters, she sings most flamenco styles.
La Susi has recorded several albums, ranging from very traditional Flamenco to rumbas, pop and jazz fusion.
Discography:
Al Sentirte Yo En Mis Labios (Movieplay, 1979)
Siento La Luz (Movieplay, 1980)
Te Quiero Porque Sí (Movieplay, 1981)
De Fiesta y Luna (Movieplay, 1984)
Larachi (Fonomusic, 1985)
Nuevos Horizontes (Fonomusic, 1989)
Agua De Mayo (Muxxic, 2001)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.