The Mexican-American artist breathes new life into old classics and enraptures the audience with her latest musical creations.
Lila Downs’s current tour, named after her most recent album “Pecados y Milagros” (Sins and Miracles), doesn’t delve into much sinning though it certainly delivers on the miraculous. In fact, it is a sin that this chanteuse extraordinaire is not a bigger star, at least here in her native Mexico.
As a child of an American father and a Mexican mother, Lila’s music speaks to the migrant class and to those of us who can no longer be pigeonholed into one single culture. The artist gained international notoriety in 2002 for her acting and musical contributions to the film Frida, starring Salma Hayek. A few years ago, I bought her deeply relatable album “One Blood/Una Sangre” on a whim, an album that is as nostalgic as it is political and that as a whole triumphs in protesting cultural complacency.
Fast forward to Lila’s recent concert in Guadalajara where the artist enchanted the audience with her unique mix of earthiness and disarming simplicity. Most Mexicans who have never left Mexico have no clue of the impact of their culture on the rest of the Latin cultures. Sadly, popular culture in Mexico has been watered down by the effects of globalization and, contemporary artists like Lila lose out to the glitz and glamour of today’s pop acts.
In comes Lila, a kind of superhero whose power is to reclaim everything that is evocative and iconic in traditional Mexican music. Ok, she sings old boleros but, no one in her generation can breathe new life into these old classics the way Lila can. The genius in her interpretations is that she can keep what is traditional but infuse it with her strong-woman personality and ‘world music’ sensitivity. Her voice is as dramatic as it is acrobatic, taking the listener on a wild ride of joy, for witnessing such a gift, and longing for the simple life of yesteryears. Her musicians are exquisitely trained and demonstrated that the show is a carefully curated cultural installation.
The concert’s song set featured upbeat and downbeat numbers, all uniquely appealing. Like the album, the show started with “Mezcalito” (Little Mezcal) which praises this cousin of tequila not for being a spirit to drown one’s sorrows but for its role in the celebration of life and nature’s bounty, Oxaca’s bounty, that is. In “Tu Cárcel’ (Your Prison), a composition of another Mexican musical genius, Marco Antonio Solis, Downs laments the loss of a lover who is dumb enough to leave…tired old topic but somehow still relevant.
Lila’s playful manner and easy banter with the audience makes her all too human and it would be easy to dismiss her based on her humbleness, but when she sings, she commands the stage, and no one can come close. The classic “Cucurrucucu Paloma” had never met a better performance. Despite the bitter lyrics, the musical arrangement coupled with Lila’s range of vocals, sometimes heart wrenching and sometimes playfully seductive, is almost celestial. “Zapata Se Queda” (Zapata Stays) is a flirty and contagious song that mixes the political with the superstitious and best of all, doesn’t take itself too seriously. The grand jewel of the concert (and of the Album as well) was Lila’s and husband Paul Cohen’s original composition “Palomo del Comalito” (Dove of the Tortilla Pan), a mélange of musical styles that is nothing short of astonishing, thanks greatly to a fascinating mix of musical instruments. The lyrics here are infused with hope. Yes, sometimes it takes that much musical hard work to get us to pay attention.
Lila’s earthiness can be better described as a fertilizing force as supposed to the harvesting quality associated with the term ‘earthy’. I’m no farmer but I bet that what you put into the earth is as important as what you reap from it. Lila gives back to the earth and a miraculous crop results. Days later, I’m still vibrating with the echoes of her invigorating gift. For that, I am forever grateful.
Lila will perform in New York on February 18. This is an artist to be experienced live! For details visit:
http://www.liladowns.com/mx/events
Also, the “Pecados and Milagros” album is available for streaming on npr.org at:
http://www.npr.org/2011/10/23/141546950/first-listen-lila-downs-pecados-y-milagros-sins-and-miracles
Lila's official website is:
http://www.liladowns.com/
