Lhasa de Sela

(1972-2010)

Lately, I've been getting to know the latest and last album by the late Lhasa de Sela. She was probably named after the Tibetan capital city where the Potala Palace is located (seen to the right, from Wikipedia), home of the 14th Dalai Lama, though, as we know, he has been exiled to India since 1959.

Lhasa, the singer-songwriter, had a beautiful unique deep, jazzy voice and sings mellow folk melodies. All her music is really nice but I strongly recommend this last album, called Lhasa, which is really powerful, released while she was living with breast cancer.

You can hear short clips of her songs here


After her death, on January 1st, 2010, it snowed in Montreal for four days.

In commemoration of her life, Patrick Watson, a long time friend, wrote a song with the band Esmerine that was posted on http://snowdayforlhasa.com/ (where I found the image above). Lhasa has been known to sing with Patrick Watson on several occasions, some available on youtube, and she sung vocals on his latest album, Wooden Arms (another great album to check out). You'll note that in honour of her memory, on the website, they have asked for donations to the Owl Foundation of Ontario.

"TOF helps owls that are injured, diseased or starving, to get back to a condition where they can survive on their own and can be released. Some owls with permanent disabilities that are otherwise healthy are kept and used as foster parents, raising orphaned owl chicks in natural-type enclosures. Once old enough, these young birds learn to hunt live prey while still in captivity. The young owls are released when they are able to survive on their own. Where suitable pairs can be formed among the owls with permanent disabilities, the birds are given the opportunity and conditions to breed and raise their own young, which are later released. We provide spacious outdoor enclosures for the owls, permitting flight over a distance and providing a variety of perches and degrees of cover."
For more info, see it here: http://www.theowlfoundation.ca/

Lhasa album art from Audigram.ca
Wooden Arms album art from Wikipedia