MikePadgett.com

Lila Downs in concert

— An enormously gifted Mexican singer who puts everything she has into every performance.”

As my interest in world music continues to develop, some names come up increasingly often.

Though I had heard only snippets of her music, the voice of cantante mexicana Lila Downs persuaded me to grab a couple of tickets for this rare appearance. My hunch seems to have paid off!

Ms Downs, the daughter of an American father and a Mexican mother, digs deep into the Indian traditions of the Oaxaca region and, it would seem, the recesses of her own soul.

With a composite of multinational session musicians, she managed to thrill her small audience with an extraordinary vocal range that went from heartbreak to extreme joy and even frivolity, often in the same song.

Downs danced merrily through the old standard Quizas, Quizas, Quizas, breathed extra vitality into Indian dance rhythms and even left room for social comment with a paean to itinerant Mexican workers.

After a loud encore, Lila and band left the stage at Harrogate Theatre bound for WOMAD and I fancy many of us wished those energetic 90 minutes could have lasted all night.