Amoeba Music and CIIS Public Programs & Performances present An Evening with Lila Downs on February 23rd at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco.

UPDATE:  Tickets to this performance are extremely limited. Please call City Box Office at 415.392.4400 for updates.

Thursday, February 23, 2012
8:00PM
Herbst Theatre, San Francisco
$25/$45/$65/$85
Get tickets HERE or call 415.392.4400
Group discounts available for 10 or more! 

Mexican American singer and composer Lila Downs adds to her heritage original compositions fused with blues, jazz, soul, and African roots. Known for her smoky voice and magnetic performances, Downs has created one of the most singular explorations of Mexican roots music and a unique body of work.

Her musical vision is anthropological in nature, as varied as the ancient and earthy cultures that continue to nurture and inspire her. Lila often taps into the native Mesoamerican music of the Mixtec, Zapotec, Maya, and Nahuatl cultures. Embracing and highlighting indigenous origins, whether in the US or Mexico, has always been an important aspect of her music, as well as the topics of political and social justice, immigration, and transformation, all rooted in the human condition. Lila always strives to make a meaningful connection with her diverse audiences through her music and performances.

My guiltiest pleasure in Latin music has to be the songs written by Marco Antonio Solis during the years he was fronting Los Bukis. There is not a time when a Bukis song comes blasting out of a car or jukebox in a Mexican restaurant/bar where I don’t smile inside. Solis was the master of the balada, or ballads. Although Los Bukis music will forever be dated by their matching suits and that stock 80’s Latin Pop sound, the core of his songs were brilliant.

I didn’t always feel that way. One of my first jobs out of high school in the late 80's was working at a warehouse that custom cut various pieces of foam for Aerospace companies. It was there I discovered a few things. The first thing I discovered is that manual labor sucks. The pay was bad and so were the early work hours for someone who was in the mist of his partying years. The upside is that I had no stress. I lived cheaply and the hours of mindless repetition of cutting and rolling foam around a tube left my mind free to be creative. I wrote songs and stories frequently in my head, sometimes writing my ideas quickly on any scratch piece of paper during my fifteen-minute break.

I discovered that this foam we had called Temper-Foam, was great to sleep on. It was used for the Space Shuttle for shock absorption. We used it to nap on during our half an hour lunch break. I would immediately knock out once I laid down on it. If I had a late gig the night before I wouldn’t have time to sleep. I’d go straight to work and that 30- minute nap made me feel like I slept all night. We now know it as Tempur-Pedic, the company that makes expensive beds and pillows.

I’m a little late with the Amoeba Hollywood World Music best sellers list for March, so here it goes.

1. Charlotte Gainsbourg-IRM
2. Basseko Kouyate-I Speak Fula
3. Bunbury-Las Consecuencias
4. Chatmonchy-S/T
5. V/A-Pomegranates
6. Julieta Venegas-Otra Cosa
7. V/A-Pomegranates (LP version)
8. V/A-Dengue Fever Presents: Electric Cambodia
9. Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate-Ali & Toumani
10. V/A-Nigeria Special Vol.2

Charlotte tops the chart for the third month in a row. Most likely she will bumped by the new Ozomatli in April (More on that later). If you live in or near San Francisco, take note: Charlotte Gainsbourg will be appearing at the SF Amoeba for Record Store Day, where she will be doing a signing at 12 noon! The Pomegranates compilation scores double positions on the chart with both the CD and LP version making the top ten. Two in-store performances fueled the sales of  Basseko Kouyate and Chatmonchy. None of the releases on the top ten show any signs of slowing down; if anything, some may sell more than when they were first released in the coming weeks!

April is turning into another busy month of new releases. So far we had releases by Angelique Kidjo’s Oyo, Mulatu Astatke's Steps Ahead and Richard Bona’s The Ten Shades of Blues. Another B-Music compilation, Absolute Belter, is a collection of Psychedelic pop nuggets from Spain from the late 60’s/early 70’s. The LP version will be out soon, so I hear.

1. V/A-Sound Of Wonder!
2. Chico Sonido-S/T
3. V/A- Black Rio Vol. 2
4. Bebe-Y.
5. Lila Downs-La Cantina
6. Natalia Lafourcade-Hu Hu Hu
7. Los Amigos Invisible-Commercial
8. Merche-Cal Y Arena
9. V/A-Panama Vol.2
10. Serge Gainsbourg- Initials SG-Best Of Serge Gainsbourg

The Sound of Wonder compilation just edged out Chico Sonido’s self-titled release to take the top spot of the week. At number five was Lila Downs’ La Cantina, a release that dates back to 2006. Why, you ask? Perhaps because Lila landed in the hospital last week with a case of appendicitis and had to cancel all her shows in California, including a free show at The Santa Monica Pier last Thursday. I’m guessing that people came to Amoeba to get their Lila fix. To Lila, we wish a speedy recovery and we look forward to her next show at The Hollywood Forever Cemetery on October 24th for the Dia De Los Muertos Festival.

At number six is Natalia Lafourcade's latest, Hu Hu Hu. Released in Mexico in May (and yes, of course, not domestically) this is Natalia’s best release to date. Her songwriting has matured yet still retaines that youthful edge, especially lyrically. Much like Juan Son’s Mermaid Sashimi, Natalia’s release also reveals that she is a recent graduate of The Brian Wilson School of Songwriting, sans Juan Son’s flair for the dramatic. Despite obvious influences, Natalia still marches to the beat of her own drum. I can see a whole new generation of Latin American singer/songwriters using Hu Hu Hu as a template for their future work, much like they did with her past releases.

The “breakthrough” album is something most critically acclaimed artists have to contend with. It’s the pressure to get to that elusive “next level.” Sometimes the pressure comes from outside sources, such as the record label or management. Other times it’s self-induced. It’s the desire to grow out of the confines of one’s fan base in order to seek a larger audience. Perhaps the move is purely artistic, to grow into a new sound or a new image, damn the loyalists and critics!

Lila Downs’ latest release, Shake Away, is just that. It is an attempt to go beyond the confines of a cult following. It is her chance to shed her past image as the token Mexican Diva and perhaps become a household Diva. Out of the sixteen songs on the album, more than half are in English, which should make her songs more accessible to a non-Spanish speaking audience. 

That should make songs such as "Little Man," a Mexican Banda song (the style of which usually has most Americanos groaning) made easily digestible with English lyrics and a guitar solo. It is an “every person” song of the working immigrant, just trying to get by like everyone else. But the problem with the songs is that it lacks the spice, the flavor, and the balls for one to care about the immigrant that does the jobs that no one wants to do. The same problem exists within "Minimum Wage," a song about the trials and tribulations of immigrants in the U.S. by way of Loretta Lynn. It’s a down home country vibe that’s awkward at best, with the message getting lost on the train to Nashville. These two songs feel like Lila is both trying too hard and trying too much. Another sign of that is her version of "Black Magic Woman," a duet with pop singer Raul Mídon. Upon first listen I could almost hear the music executives saying: