Grecia Albán – NUBES SELVA

NUBES SELVA

Artist

Grecia Albán

Lyrics

Musical traditions are disputed territories. For some artists, respecting and celebrating tradition means staying close to the sound that was. For Ecuadorian singer and songwriter Grecia Albán, honoring tradition means nurturing it by embracing change.

In Nubes Selva (which translates loosely to “Cloud Jungle”), her debut release on Folkalist Records, Albán sings over a canvas of reimagined folkloric rhythms. It’s a sound built in layers — voices, drums, guitars, horns, synthesizers, and samples — including musical instruments and tools that, in many cases, simply did not exist at the time Latin American folk traditions were taking shape.

“Ecuador is a territory with an immense mixture of cultures,” she says. “But it is a country marked by coloniality. So, the indigenous and African cultures are not valued as they should be, considering their richness and importance. My music is a nod to the need to value those traditions — without forgetting that I live in modern times and that I like music from many different places.”

Deeply rooted in Ecuadorian folklore, Nubes Selva is informed by technology, American folk music, and jazz. But throughout, Albán also draws from a variety of rhythms from Latin America, such as Peruvian festejo, Colombian mapalé and Uruguayan candombe. “I am a Latin American from Ecuador,” she declares.

"My maternal and paternal families are from Cotopaxi. It is a very special place because the Andean indigenous culture is mixed with mestizo culture, mostly Spanish," she says. " I lived there as a child and always return, because it is a place where my grandmothers, my uncles and my whole family have left their mark."

On her new album, Albán sings in Spanish and Kichwa, an indigenous language related to the Quechua language of Peru and Bolivia. She tells family stories and paints scenes of small-town magic realism, draws landscapes of volcanoes and jungles, and shares the tender joy of a children’s song (“Todo Pasa”). But the happiness present in her music, says Albán, quoting Ecuadorian philosopher Bolívar Echeverría, also speaks of the everyday labor in Latin America of “making livable the unlivable.”

Telling intimate stories but always open to the world, Nubes Selva celebrates tradition while negotiating the delicate balance of continuity and change. It is music of beauty, a deep, understated passion, and a clear purpose.

“I remember a conversation I had with my mother,” says Albán, as she reflects on her intentions. “She has many hand-woven baskets, so one day when we were shopping at the market, I had to ask her: ‘Mom, really, why are you buying another basket? You have so many.’ And she told me: ‘So that they keep making them.’ I believe that playing these rhythms, returning to the yumbo, the huayno, the Afro-Ecuadorian music of the Pacific, is for me like continuing to weave those baskets. We must continue creating and re-creating them so they continue to exist.”

CREDITS:

GRECIA ALBÁN Lead vocals (1-11) selva voices (2,7) backing vocals (1-11) chico drum (6)

MIGUEL SEVILLA Synths, music programming (1-11) piano (9,10) rhodes (2,4,5) sax, clarinet (1,2,5,9) cavaquinho (1,3,4,9) guitar (2,3,7,8,9) backing vocals (2,8)

ALEX ALVEAR Bass (1-9, 11) guitar (1,3,4,9) ronroco (1) percussion (3,8)

ATAHUALPA ALBÁN Andean snare (3) repique drum (6)

RICARDO PITA Lead vocals (8) backing vocals (5,6,7)

DIANA GALLEGOS Clarinet (1)

CAROLINA PURUNCAJAS Piano (6)

ANA CACHIMUEL Backing vocals (1,7)

LYZBETH BADARACO Wurlitzer (7)

ZAK ICAZA Drums (9)

MARCELINO PERALTA Piano drum (6)

DIEGO MINDA Congas, guiro (11)

YONY MUÑOZ Trombone (11)

FERNANDO GALLEGOS Trumpet (11)

KEVIN SANTOS Zambo bass drum, guasá (2,5)

FIDEL MINDA Cununo, guasá (2,5), bongo drum (2,8) peruvian cajon (8)

JUAN LUZURIAGA Forest recording (2)

MASHPI FOREST sounds (2)

Music producer: Miguel Sevilla

Executive producer: Grecia Albán, Daniel Idrovo, Kavita Shah

Co-producer: Kavita Shah, Jayme Stone

Mix & master: Jeremy Loucas "Sear Sound Studio B"

Arrangements: Miguel Sevilla, Alex Alvear, Grecia Albán

Recording: Bambi Records, La Increíble Sociedad, BlastBeat House, MOOSIK Studio.

Photography: Daniela Vasconez

Cover design: IWANT Design

Album package design: IWANT Design

Support: Zambaje, SAYCE, IFCI

Label: Folkalist Records

All of this music was composed by Grecia Albán & Miguel Sevilla.

Concept and lyrics: Grecia Albán / Co-authors: Ana Cachimuel (3,7) Ricardo Pita (5,8,9) Sofía Rei (7) Pawawa (8) / Co-composers: Alex Alvear (3) Steven Dagenais (4) Ricardo Pita (6,8) Sikwanka (7)

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Single Cover: VIRGEN Y VOLCÁN

Virgen y Volcán

Single Cover: UKU ÑAN

One Sheet