Uxía - Estou Vivindo No Ceo CD
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CD cover image Uxía
Estou Vivindo No Ceo (Nube Negra)
$17.99

Uxía Senlle is one of my favorite singers from Spain, and this is my favorite of her three (wonderful) recordings, recorded in 1996. She reinterprets songs from Portugal and Galicia with spirit and style, delivering them with a voice of incomparable power and grace. Highly Recommended!

This CD was briefly available in the US on Alula, but has since disappeared, so I have imported the original Spanish version for the shop.

 

Listen:
tua nai e miega
alala das marinas
a laraxna

Uxia comes from the Galician region of Spain, situated in the northwest and known for its Celtic roots. The music here is a wonderful mix of cultures even at its most traditional, and Uxia and her talented producer and musicians push these traditions to the breaking point.

The album opens with a lush "alala," a traditional song style notable for its lack of structure, melodically and rhythmically. Her voice wanders through open phases that allow for a full exposition of her formidable vocal talents, from gentle sweetness to powerful roar. The musical underpinnings are far from traditional, though. Using a droning synthesizer for a bottom, they add harp, cello, violin and bagpipes to create an unearthly, airy sound that is what all those Enya-esque records dream of and never achieve. An old Armenian tune drifts through the song, adding another layer of complexity. The lyric says "I have lovers, I have boats, I am living in heaven" and listening to the song, you can believe it.

Many of the twelve songs on the album are traditional, but their treatments range from simple folk accompaniment to some very edgy, almost avant garde pieces. But the contemporary songs are some of the shining moments. "Arquestas Noites Tan Longas (Those Long Nights)" is an adaptation of a 13th century poem. It has strong Galician roots but a very modern thrust, driven by mandola, violins, Arabic percussion and the trikitixa (Basque diatonic accordion) of Kepa Junkera. There are one or two tracks where the lushness of the synthesizers and the singer collude to make something just shy of a cocktail lounge soundtrack, but they are mercifully brief moments in a shining hour of music. The rest of the album is a diverse set of Galician, Portuguese and Spanish roots. This could well be one of those recordings you can't get out of your CD player. A month after discovering it, I still couldn't. - CF in RootsWorld (1997)

Press from the record label:
“Uxia doesn't have a great voice, she is a great voice,” wrote a Portuguese critic, and one listen to Estou Vivindo No Ceo (Living In The Clouds) will prove him right.

Uxía Senlle has taken traditional songs from Galicia and Portugal, and with her distinctive voice and respect for tradition she has created a collection of music which is fresh and exciting and encapsulates the musical history of this little known region. Her first recording was as a soloist; she then formed the group Na Loea, with whom she made two CD's before returning to solo work.

The wonderful arrangements on Estou Vivindo No Ceo were done by Nacho Muñoz, who has been working with Uxía for the past six years. This CD combines medieval and traditional songs from north-western Spain and northern Portugal with modern songs by such composers as José Afonso, Julio Pereira, Victor Aparicio, Quintas-Canella, and of course by Uxía herself. It is a magical, serene, and intimate recording.


Uxía Senlle -Uxía - comenzó a cantar muy joven, atraída por las más diversas expresiones musicales populares y manifestando una fuerte inclinación por la poesía gallega, de cuya divulgación se encargó a través de sus composiciones.

En 1986, con el album Foliada de Marzo, Uxía acabó por marcar el panorama de la música popular gallega al restaurar la tradición largarnente interrumpida del canto. Los músicos que la acompañaron en el estudio acabaron por convertirse, en 1987, en sus compañeros en el sendero de la música, cuando la invitaron a integrarse en el grupo Na Lúa. Pocos meses despues, el disco A estrela de Maio, exhibía ya su hermosa y expresiva voz.

Su trayectoria en esta etapa, coincide con la del propio grupo Na Lúa, realizando numerosos conciertos dentro y fuera de nuestras fronteras. En 1988, en Lisboa, sería grabado Ondas do Mar de Vigo (Premia do Critico Golego) y que constituye la última señal discográfica de su paso por Na Lúa.

En 1991, Uxía abandona el grupo y publica su segundo album como solista, el cosmopólita Entre cidades. Participó en esos momentos en varios festivales extranjeros (Euromúsica, 3º y 4º Festival Intercéltico do Porto, entre otros) y representó a Galicia en el Festival de Televisiones de Europa realizado en Nüremberg (Alemania), además de tener un número importante de conciertos en toda la Península, en Cuba y en Argentina.

El 6 de Marzo de 1994 forma parte del espectáculo Mulleres a viva voz, junto a Amalia Rodríguez y María del Mar Bonet, y también en la mustra luso-galega Bailía das Frores, Os Sons da Fala , con presencia de músicos de Cabo Verde, Angola, Mozambique y Portugal y, ya, recientemente, fue la responsable del diseño y coordinación de un espectaculo de mujeres que reunió a cantantes de los más diversos estilos (Leilía, María Joao, Filipa Pais, María González, Minela, María del Mar Bonet y la propia Uxía).

En 1995 Uxía graba para Nubenegra su Estou vivindo no ceo . Un disco sereno e intimista, donde la voz más interesante de Galicia reivindica su condición de raiana (fronteriza) atravesando, cuantas veces considera, la línea administrativa que separa Galicía de Portugal. Julio Pereira, figura indiscutible de la música popular portuguesa, participa activamente en la gestación y desarrollo de la grabación. Textos medievales y melodías tradicionales conviven con canciones de autor.

En 1997 Uxía se reune con María Salgado y Rasha para interpretar aquellos temas que alguna vez han deseado hacer suyos. Aquí se quiere festejar la posibilidad de reunir modos muy distintos de acercarse a la canción y celebrar el entendimiento mutuo y la complicidad de músicos e intérpretes como formas intrínsecas de la expresión popular. Un canto vital a la diversidad.

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