Yungchen Lhamo – Awakening (Six Degrees Records Music, 2022)
‘Awakening’ is a charming album of modern Tibetan-grounded songs from vocalist and songwriter Yungchen Lhamo. The Tibetan artist has a lovely voice that she uses to perform captivating a cappella songs or in ensemble pieces. Notably, Yungchen skillfully and gracefully combines Tibetan folk and sacred vocal styles with modern layered and looped techniques.
Even though part of the album has a deep Tibetan flavor, you will also find Spanish and Indian music influences. This is no coincidence. Yungchen Lhamo enjoys collaborating with artists from other cultures and traditions. On this occasion, she traveled to Spain and worked with esteemed producers Julio García and Carmen Ros at Escalera Grabaciones Intrépidas in Madrid.
‘Awakening’ features an impressive cast of Spanish and Spain-based musicians from the world music and flamenco scenes. Yungchen Lhamo says about this project: “Over the years I have combined the two main traditions of singing in Tibet into a vibrational genre of sound healing, often performing a capella but also working with musicians from a variety of western countries – including, for this album, Spain. I truly believe that voice has a vibrational energy to connect, empower, heal, and transform all human beings. I hope these new songs on ‘Awakening’ will help bring you peace and true happiness.”
The lineup includes Yungchen Lhamo on vocals; Carmen Linares on flamenco vocals; Julio García on conch shell trumpet, acoustic and electric guitars, bass, harmonium, percussion, backing vocals; Rodrigo Martin Munuera on Spanish guitar; Matthieu Saglio on cello, backing vocals; Nantha Kumar on tabla, thape drum; Javier Paxariño on bamboo flute, sopranino saxophone; Osmay Torres on violin; Julio Albertos on transverse flute; and Carmen Ros, Yani Martinelli, Mark Walden on spoken word.
More about Yungchen Lhamo
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.