Diana Navarro - Resiliencia (2016)

Born in Malaga, Spain, in the Andalusian province where flamenco originated, singer Diana Navarro grew up in a household where music was a daily part of life. She spent much of her youth in a folk choir and began entering singing competitions in the early 2000’s. The hard work eventually paid off when her demos fell into the hands of leading Andalusian musician Chico Valdiva and subsequently work began on her debut album No Te Olvides de Mí, which was released in 2005. Her distinct fusion of flamenco, worldbeat, pop and Northern African music on the record made her a favourite in her homeland and earned her a Latin Grammy nomination. Two years after the success of her debut, Navarro looked beyond her flamenco roots on her second album 24 Rosas, which focused on traditional Spanish love songs with a modern twist. She continued with this theme on 2008’s Camino Verde, which included a collection of tracks originally popularized by fellow countrymen such as Rocío Jurado and Estrellita Castro. Navarro performed the traditional style songs in “nueva copla” rearrangements to suit her contemporary audience. Navarro returned in 2011 with a live album simply entitled Flamenco, which focused on her roots in the genre and its influence on her own musical style. The record featured songs by legendary musicians such as Pepe Pinto, Juanito Valderrama and Enrique Morente in a respectful tribute to traditional flamenco music. ~ Marisa Brown & Scott Kerr.