Lila Downs

Lila Downs has created an individual musical strain with Indigenous Mexican roots and North American sonorities. As her career was beginning, she and jazz musician Paul Cohen struck a professional and personal relationship whose first fruit was the self-released Ofrenda (1994). That was followed two years later by Azuláo: En Vivo con Lila Downs, one of whose songs won Best Original Latin Jazz composition in a Philadelphia poll. Along with jazz, Downs was slowly developing a more intense, folkloric style that began to rear its head on 1997's La Sandunga, influenced by artists such as Chavela Vargas and Mercedes Sosa. She won a Grammy Award for 2004's Una Sangre, and a Latin Grammy for 2015's Balas y Chocolate. 2017's Salon, Lagrimas y Deseo charted, as did 2019's Al Chile. Following a four-year gap and the 2022 death of musical and life partner Cohen, Downs released La Sánchez in 2023.