• Lila Downs - April 18th
• 8:00pm

ABOUT LILA DOWNS

Listen

To purchase a limited edition bottle of wine

Singer Lila Downs grew up with the culture of her father, a filmmaker and professor from the United States, but expresses the traditions of her mother, a Mixteca Indian from Mexico. In doing so, she creates a very individual strain of song that has indigenous Mexican roots and North American significance. She spent her early years in Mexico, but after her parents split up, she was shuffled off to live with a relative in California. She grew to love music, specifically classical and opera, and began studying them in college.

After graduating from college in Minnesota with a double degree in anthropology and voice, and a renewed enthusiasm for both her Mexican heritage and singing, she settled in her mother's hometown of Oaxaca. It was during this period when she began vocalizing again, and exploring her roots, that she met up with Philadelphia-based jazz musician, Paul Cohen. The pair have enjoyed a fruitful professional and personal relationship ever since. Their first effort was the self-released, cassette-only "Ofrenda" in 1994. That was followed two years later by another cassette, the live "Azuláo: En Vivo con Lida Downs".

Along with jazz, Downs has developed a more intense, folkloric style that began to rear its head on 1997's "La Sandunga" the title track and "La Llorona" offering a hearty passion not to be heard on her jazzier efforts. Her full vocal promise was fulfilled in 2000 with the release of "Tree of Life", the lyrics of which were largely derived from the religious and cultural codices of the Mixteca people. The next year, Downs issued "Border (La Linea)".

In 2004, "Una Sangre (One Blood)" was released and won the Latin Grammy for best folk album. It was followed in 2006 with the playful and vibrant La Cantina, a mix of Mexican rancheras, banda, cumbia, and many other surprising influences. Her most recent CD of new music is "Shake Away", released in 2008, which garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary World Music Album, and takes listeners on a musical journey that's both intensely personal and vividly universal. The leading world music organization, WOMEX, named "Shake Away" among the top ten world music albums of the year. Released in 2009, "The Very Best of El Alma de Lila Downs" is a wonderful compilation of songs spanning 1999 - 2006 and a great way to discover the richness of her music.

On stage Downs describes the characters of her songs, not only with movements and gestures, but also with a soaring vocal range. "You learn to create bridges," she says, revealing her own musical style of interweaving different traditions and stories, like the weavings of the women she admires.