Carlos Villatoro reviews a Lila Downs' performance.

Although Downs’ performance drew loud applause, as well as shouts of “Otra tequila,” “Oaxaca” and “I love you, Lila,” the crowd largely remained motionless in their seats.

In turn, Downs sang most of her songs in the cradle of her band — a skilled group of musicians that formed a semi-circle around the singer — and not at the edge of the stage.

The few times that she did venture out were memorable, giving the crowd opportunities to hand her wine and bouquets of flowers. One lucky girl, dressed in a traditional Oaxacan outfit, briefly went on stage with Downs to share the limelight.

Downs is a dynamic singer with the range to deliver low lows and crisp highs. During a rendition of the famous Mexican folk song “La Cucaracha,” Downs and harpist Celso Duarte engaged in a classic call-and-response segment — Downs would sing high notes and Duarte would match them on his harp.

Despite her ample vocal ability, she failed to involve the crowd in much of the performance. It wasn’t until the last song, “El Bracero Fracasado,” that a group of her fans rushed the stage and everyone in the theater rose for the grand finale.

Read More

Please Visit Echoes of the Land aStore

The Divinas

Lila Downs, Azul, Magos Herrera. Three Mexican singers with strong ties to the United States, each with her own ideas about what modern Mexico sounds like. Together they are the divinas, the divine ones. Not exactly divas, but not exactly not.

"I understand the term," says Herrera. "But mostly it's for marketing, something to call us. Do I think I'm a diva? No!" she laughs. But then she pauses, grows somber and continues, "At the same time, everyone has that divine spark, a connection to something divine."

Lila Downs is the most well-known of the trio. Her music was part of the Oscar-winning soundtrack for Selma Hayek's film Frida (that was her onstage with Caetano Veloso during the awards ceremony). From a mixed Mixtec Mexican-white American background, Downs sings traditional folk songs -- with a twist. The opening bars of "La Cucaracha," for example, become a flamenco opera in her hands. Then she launches into a more or less straight rendering for the first verse before she breaks into a rap for the second.

"She's really wonderful," says Azul, admiringly. Azul (her name is the Spanish word for blue) talks with a soft Mexican accent, hesitating while she searches for the right words in English. She tells me, "Lila's voice is one of the few that makes me stand still; when I listen to her I can't really move or anything. I have to stand still and just listen; she's that powerful."

Magos Herrera, who has shared the stage with Downs several times, adds, "She's wonderful, a great artist."

Does Herrera worry the Divinas concert might become the Lila Downs show? "It's hard to put all these vocalists together on one stage, all these egos and everything," she admits. "But for me, it's very clear that no one can express what you can express, it's unique in every artist, so there's no competition. Art is to be shared, so to me it's wonderful to be onstage with her."

Read More

Please Visit Echoes of the Land aStore

Concert Review: Lila Downs at Centennial Hall Sunday

The outburst was not an everyday occurrence for a venue used to prestigious symphony orchestras and internationally acclaimed dance companies, but par for the genre.
Rancheras are passionate ballads known for evoking tears, hearty shouts of joy and pain, and, yes, even the occasional sing-a-long.
It is the kind of music that inspired Downs to create her 2006 album, "La Cantina," a collection of these classics — some original, some penned by famed artists like Jiménez — recorded and played Sunday with electric guitars, drums and the occasional sax riff courtesy of Downs' husband and artistic director, Paul Cohen.
"When I was very young I used to love this music," Downs confided to the audience of 1,600. "I didn't know at the time the songs were about drinking and dying loved ones."

Read More

Please Visit Echoes of the Land aStore

Interview with Lila Downs

Care, dedication and a soupcon of imagination are required to make a great mole (not the animal) sauce. Like all recipes handed down through the generations, the traditional essence of the Mexican dish can be enhanced with a little experimentation.
The combination of chocolate, chilli and (most often) chicken is an acquired taste, of course, and not one that appeals to all palates this side of the Sierra Madre.

To singer Lila Downs, however, mole represents more than just her favourite meal. The Mexican delicacy is a staple in the Oaxaca region where Downs spent her early childhood. It's as much a part of the culture there as the traditional folk music she grew up listening to and singing to her mother. That's why, for her most recent album, La Cantina, she wrote a song, La Cumbia del Mole, that pays tribute to the women of Oaxaca who make the dish and to its central role in the region's culture.

"It has such a ritual surrounding it," she says from her home in Mexico City, "from roasting all the ingredients and hanging in the kitchen and the smells that come out. It's something that you definitely miss when you are far away from Oaxaca."

Read More

Please Visit Echoes of the Land aStore

Interview with Lila Downs

Lila Downs admits she is surprised her music has become internationally successful. After all, much of what she sings is in Spanish, it speaks of the pride and plight of the Mexican and Indian communities, it can be politically flinty, and she has even managed to alienate folk purists by mixing in rock guitars, hip-hop, jazz and reggae influences.

As a cocktail of musical styles it just doesn't seem to fit anywhere in the musical spectrum. Her early albums from the mid-90s often went unreviewed in mainstream media in Mexico where she was born, and in the United States where she spends much of her time.

But in the past few years all that has changed: her striking appearance in brightly coloured traditional clothes and with her long dark hair in severe plaits has drawn comparisons with Frida Kahlo. That association was enhanced by her appearing on the soundtrack to the 2002 Salma Hayek movie Frida. Her song Burn It Blue was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song which she performed at the awards ceremony the following year.

Subsequently Billboard magazine said she had "one of the most spell-binding voices to grace the world music scene" and the LA Times, "Lila Downs is a reflection of a 21st-century world culture where ethnicity and national boundaries blur".

Read More

Please Visit Echoes of the Land aStore

Gene Armstrong interviews Lila Downs on her album La Cantina.

"One of our real goals with this album was to take music made a long time ago and make it appealing for younger people to relate to in this climate and culture. At the same time, we try to respect the intimacy that those songs may have had."

Please Visit Echoes of the Land aStore