The news prompted another of the joys to which on large artistic Cuban events we are getting used, but I better start from the beginning. I have a very good friend named Anna, whose level of admiration for the great figures of art (whom for her deserve to be called that way) is very high. She has a high uptake for the “famous” and ecstasy to witness them is effusive and stormy to the extreme.
It’s amazing to remember her retentive when it comes to names of artists, those that stick to the tip of the tongue and spend hours thinking and associating anyone but the one you need. She always has them on hand. Most impressive is the personal spiritual connection achieved with them, even without knowing them. Her level of identification transcends the barriers of bigotry and her empathy does drag us all, but this time it was not just to remember.
The news that Lila Downs was coming to Cuba took another direction from this point. My dear friend discovered that something more than the music joined her to Downs. Her discovery was poignant: the Mexican singer-songwriter not only came to give us their concert during the Second Popular Voices Encounter, this time Lila was carrying her art and the burdensome of sharing her name with my friend. Now, Ana Lila Downs took on a different sense for her. Delirium squeaked into gestures of pride. Lila’s trip was more than music.
For many (and sometimes myself included) there is no such importance on the connection. Ana is such a common name such as that of my friend Joaquin, and so for him the visit of Sabina was the non plus ultra of foreign presentations on the island, but my Joaquín does not flinch at the sound of an organ in chapel. My Ana, however, is passionate and vibrates when you touch something deep, and in that the art of Downs has the upper hand.
On November 8th Sins and Miracles on the most traditional Aztec style will arrive in Havana. The concert, which is randomly named as her seventh album and her fourth tour musical melodies, will bring to Cuba the 2012 Grammy Award winner album .
The disc, released officially on October 18, 2011, climbed, just two days after its official launch to the top of the charts, ranking second of the most downloaded albums on iTunes. It includes 14 tracks, six of the authorship of the singer and the rest of composers known as José Alfredo Jiménez , Cuco Sánchez , Tomás Méndez , Macedonio Alcalá and Marco Antonio Solis.
The proposal is full of love, heartbreak, verses dedicated to Zapata, mescal and women. It also has collaborations with Latin musicians as Mexican composer Celso Piña, Colombian folk singer Toto la Momposina ( who on more than one occasion visited the island) , the Argentine group of funk and hip- hop Illya Kuryaki & The Valderramas , Argentine singer Emmanuel Horvilleur and the Tierra Mojada Band
Downs, who will perform for the first time in Havana, acquired fame after the release of her debut album The Sandunga in 1999, which achieved success and positive critical reception, but its commercial debut in the Spanish American record market was in 2000 with Arbol de la vida and international success came permanently a year later with La Linea.
For most Cubans Lila Downs appeared for the first time in the famous Frida (sorry, not for my Ana, who wisely and amazing often is ahead of the boom on refined musical tastes), and I then came to expand the range on the Island of cultural films Like Water for Chocolate and Mariachi gringo in which we also saw her and heard her
The musical style of the singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger, performer and actress defends its roots entrenched and the indigenous peoples of her homeland. For this she plays melodies in various languages such as Mixtec, Zapotec, Maya, Nahuatl and Purepecha, in addition to the country’s regional music based on the sounds of Oaxaca.
Lilac is easily recognized, her visual vortex attracts and involves colors and her aesthetic sense demands and extravagant looks by changing (to what my Anna would add: “in a good way”). Not to be overlooked that peculiar way of dressing which combines Mexico regional costumes and mixed with the most modern and alternative styles.
What’s more (and also serve the above to attend the concert not only by that of “the famous to sing in Havana”) Ana Lila has an active social participation and is today one of the most important creators of her genre, and also considered one of the world’s most influential artists.
For me Ana’s task now is to do everything (kill or be killed included) not to miss the concert. Downs will have for sure the taste of a euphoric presentation. My friend, perhaps, will satisfy the desire to feel live her namesake. For her, Ana will not be many, but Lila is more than name.
Author
Alejandro Ruiz Chang
