Lila Downs
Paul Cohen, Musical Director
Tenor Saxophone, & Clarinet
Celso Duarte, Harp
Guilherme Monteiro, Guitar
Rob Curto, Accordion
Booker King, Bass
Yayo Serka, Drums and Percussion
Ellen Pardo & Johnny Moreno, Visuals
Saturday, April 12, 8 pm
Michigan Theater
| Main Floor | $42 · $36 · $24 · $16 |
| Balcony | $42 · $32 · $24 · $16 |
Lila Downs divided her time growing up between the Sierra Madre mountains of southern Mexico, in the state of Oaxaca, and Minnesota. Intending to become an opera singer, she became disenchanted with music and dropped out of school, following the Grateful Dead and selling jewelry on the streets. She moved back to Oaxaca where she worked closely with the Triqui women, learning to weave cloth and ultimately completing a college thesis on the symbolism created through their weaving before returning to music, singing in clubs and putting together a band that has since toured the world. She creates strongly layered music in which blues and jazz cohabitate with rap and ranchera, and honkytonk swings alongside romantic boleros. Her songs delve deep into the hearts and minds of common people, invoking struggles, lost loves, and legends. Downs performs her own compositions and also taps into the vast reservoir of native Mesoamerican music, singing songs in the native Indian languages of Mexico, including Mixtec, Zapotec, Maya, and Nahuatl.
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Funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. |