Last night I went to see Lila Downs at the Somerville Theater, in a benefit concert for Grassroots International and El Círculo de Mujeres in Oaxaca, which is where she is from. Wonderful concert - the inimitable Lila Downs' stunning voice, warm presence and spirited performance, accompanied by great musicians, and clever visuals projected behind the performers. P gave me the tickets for my birthday, even though he knew he'd be unable to go himself since he'd be on a plane to Europe at the time. So I took my friend Martha, who enjoyed the concert immensely. I'd given her a copy of Downs' last CD, Una Sangre, which is excellent, but there's nothing like seeing her live and, of course, hearing her voice in all its versatile range from sultry to childlike to soaring. We also bumped into my friend Maddy, who I went to Mexico with in March - she's another fan of Downs after seeing her at a jazz festival in Montreal a couple of years ago.
Martha and I had dinner beforehand up the street at Orleans - salads and splitting a stuffed chicken breast that was delicious. Good wine, too.
The concert was put on by World Music in Cambridge. I'm also going with P to see Ravi Shankar next weekend. Looking forward to it.
Great picture of her, reminds me of Frida Khalo.
Posted by: Roberta | Sunday, September 25, 2005 at 03:39 PM
She does look a little like Frida. And she was in the movie, singing in a cantina.
Posted by: leslee | Sunday, September 25, 2005 at 05:58 PM
Oh lucky you. She has a fabulous voice, and a fabulous stage energy.
Posted by: Pica | Monday, September 26, 2005 at 12:13 PM
That movie was frustrating for me. I wanted them to skip the whole Salma Hayek part and just stay with Lila for the whole two hours.
Posted by: Chris Clarke | Tuesday, September 27, 2005 at 03:57 PM