Anabel began to sing as a professional when she was fourteen but she always remembers singing as a child, watching and listening to old singers (especially her grandmother) performing at her parent's bar and grill. When she was only fourteen, Anabel won an important contest the first time she competed. That was her first moment of revelation. Over the next ten years she won the rest of the numerous competitions in Asturias. A few years ago the mayor of our provincial capital of Oviedo named a street after her. And she's only 24...
She performs an ancient and strong style of singing named “tonada” (tune, more or less). The tonada is related to spanish flamenco singing or “cante jondo” in certain ways. Sometimes it is sung along with the asturian bagpipe but normally it´s done “a capella”. And typically you have to sing very strong, loud and powerfully. Originally for men only, the last century saw many women begin to sing tonada and several became very famous. The tonada is unique in Spain though certain connections to other traditional singing styles in Europe can be established.
Anabel has recorded four records, including her first CD “Al son de la lluna” (“By the beat of the moon”) where she began to renew the tonada, mixing tradition with electronic arrangements. She has collaborated with a wide variety of musicians and is included in several important collections of coal mining songs and a cd featuring the best female tonada singers. Recently, she was selected for two important recopilations: “Nuestra diversidad musical” (“Our musical diversity”) and another showcase of top women folk singers, this time from all over the country. Both recordings feature musicians from all over Spain and are produced by the Foreign Office of the spanish government. She was selected to represent the spanish folk scene for the INJUVE (National Youth Institute of Spain) in 2005 which included a series of concerts throughout the country.
On the new cd you hold in your hand -“Anabel Santiago Canta a Diamantina Rodríguez” - Anabel takes a new step beyond in asturian music. The project is a loving tribute to Diamantina Rodríguez, a very popular artist -now she's eighty five-, who made her own revolution in asturian tonada in the sixties and seventies. Diamantina was one of the few singers to add feminist lyrics and modern arrangements to the traditional tonada repertoire. She enjoyed widespread success and became one of the most important asturian singers of the twentieth century.
Anabel chose thirteen songs from the Diamantina collection and brings astonishing new life to them. The cd features the superb piano arrangements of Jacobo de Miguel, one of Spain´s best jazzmen. Together they breathe sensuality –a characteristic typically missing in so much overproduced folk music- back into the asturian tradition. And the critics agree. It appears they are expecting Anabel to take over as the leading singer of her generation.
There are many more details inside the recording. Most of the songs are done in one take. Voice and piano. But for traditionalists in the house, check out the a capella song #5, “Arboleda Bien Plantada” (“Forest well-rooted”). Pure voice, pure tonada. Full of earth and fire. Or how about the bonus track “La Madre del Mineru” (“The Coal Miner's Mother”), sung with a country dobro played by the musical producer Michael Lee Wolfe. And don't miss the hot accordion of María Álvarez or the mixing of traditional and modern percussion styles of Manolo Cordero and Sergio García. This is cutting edge folk music, a true crossover.
Anabel Santiago