''Txai'' is an album by the Brazilian musician

Milton Nascimento Milton Silva Campos do Nascimento (; born October 26, 1942), also known as Bituca, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Nascimento has recorded 32 studio albums and has won five Grammy Awards, including Best World Music ...

, released in 1990 in Brazil and in 1991 in the United States. It is dedicated to Aliança dos Povos da Floresta, a Brazilian environmental organization. The album title translates roughly to "comrade" in the

Kashinawa language Kashinawa (also spelled ''Kaxinawá, Kashinawa, Kaxynawa, Caxinawa, Caxinawá, and Cashinahua''), or Hantxa Kuin (''Hãtxa Kuĩ''), is an Indigenous American language of western South America which belongs to the Panoan language family. It is sp ...

. Nascimento supported the album with a North American tour. ''Txai'' peaked at No. 1 on ''Billboards

World Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart. It was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for "Best World Music Album".

Production

The album was inspired by an 18-day expedition Nascimento made in the

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

, along the

Juruá River The Juruá River ( ; ) is a southern affluent river of the Amazon River west of the Purus River. The Juruá emerges from highlands in east-central Peru, then winds its way through lowlands in Brazil, sharing with this the bottom of the immense in ...

. He included field recordings of indigenous Amazonian music, and ensured that royalties were sent to the appropriate tribes. "Nozani Na" was composed by

Heitor Villa-Lobos Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has globally bec ...

River Phoenix River Jude Phoenix (; August 23, 1970 – October 31, 1993) was an American actor. He was known as a teen actor before taking on leading roles in critically acclaimed films and becoming one of the most preeminent talents of his generation. Pho ...

provided a spoken word piece on "Curi Curi".

Critical reception

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' wrote that "nearly all of

he songs He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

are lushly produced and equipped with hummable melodies that often belie the grave concern for the equatorial region that Nascimento expresses through his Portuguese lyrics." ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' determined that "musically and conceptually, ''Txai'' wanders more than it should." The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' deemed ''Txai'' "sort of a travelogue of the Amazon rainforest." The ''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...

'' concluded that Nascimento's "voice—all alone, in reverberating harmonies, polyphony, or in traditional chants—makes for the overwhelming feel of the record." The ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The C ...

'' dismissed the album as "fake folk." The ''

San Antonio Express-News The ''San Antonio Express-News'' is a daily newspaper in San Antonio, Texas, founded in 1865. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation and has offices in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The ''Express-News'' is the third largest newspaper in the sta ...

'' stated that the album "melds Nascimento's refined melodies with the living sounds of the rain forest and the musical and poetic images of its indigenous peoples." ''

The Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' called "Yanomami e Nós" "hauntingly emotional."

Track listing

References

{{Authority control Milton Nascimento albums 1990 albums Columbia Records albums