A few weeks ago I posted a music video on twitter, after reading about the Nahuatl language. It reminded me of Lila Downs, a Mexican singer who has written and recorded music not only in Nahuatl and Spanish, but also in Maya, Zapotec, and other indigenous languages (a.k.a. a Mixtec singer). A native of Oaxaca, Mexico, she is the daughter of Anita Sánchez, also a Mixtec singer. Her father, Allen Downs, is a Scottish-American filmmaker and art professor. Her culture and her life’s work are easily reflected in her music. Her studies of voice and anthropology from the University of Minnesota influence her work aesthetically and in sound.
I first heard of her when shopping around at a yard sale with my mom and finding some of her music. After listening to her album, “Tree of Life” (2000), both of us fell in love with her voice and her sound. I had never encountered a Mixtec singer before thus I thought of this as a once in a lifetime find. It was later that I found out that Lila Downs is actually quite the acclaimed singer throughout the American continent and has released several albums overseas. This was one of those music experiences that definitely opened my eyes due to the narrow genre that apparently is widely admired and sought after in other mediums for example, in film.
One of the giveaways of Downs’s diverse contributions was her soundtrack and acting performance for the film Frida directed by Julie Taylor, and starring Salma Hayek. During the final scenes of the film, just before Frida’s death, she attends her solo exhibition where a musical number is then set up. Frida, having arrived in her bed, spins around the room with Lila Downs singing to her one of her most popular songs, La Llorona.
It was in fact her album, “Tree of Life”, which placed her more solidly as an international artist, but it was her album, “One Blood” (2004) which brought out her activist side. Much of the lyrics of the songs were on the subject of the case of Digna Ochoa, the human rights defender who was found murdered during the time of her defense of peasant ecologists from Guerrero. The controversial way in which the investigation of her death was executed, was what inspired Downs’s album.
Today, Lila Downs continues to work on her musical mixture of jazz, blues, mixtec, etc. Her most current project includes a musical theater presentation of Laura Esquivel’s novel, Like Water for Chocolate. I encourage anyone to give her music a listen that has transcended through generations by making fans out of my grandfather, my mother, and I. As described on her site, her music is like “a heat fueled road trip from Oaxaca to New Orleans.”
One of the giveaways of Downs’s diverse contributions was her soundtrack and acting performance for the film Frida directed by Julie Taylor, and starring Salma Hayek. During the final scenes of the film, just before Frida’s death, she attends her solo exhibition where a musical number is then set up. Frida, having arrived in her bed, spins around the room with Lila Downs singing to her one of her most popular songs, La Llorona.
It was in fact her album, “Tree of Life”, which placed her more solidly as an international artist, but it was her album, “One Blood” (2004) which brought out her activist side. Much of the lyrics of the songs were on the subject of the case of Digna Ochoa, the human rights defender who was found murdered during the time of her defense of peasant ecologists from Guerrero. The controversial way in which the investigation of her death was executed, was what inspired Downs’s album.
Today, Lila Downs continues to work on her musical mixture of jazz, blues, mixtec, etc. Her most current project includes a musical theater presentation of Laura Esquivel’s novel, Like Water for Chocolate. I encourage anyone to give her music a listen that has transcended through generations by making fans out of my grandfather, my mother, and I. As described on her site, her music is like “a heat fueled road trip from Oaxaca to New Orleans.”
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