Multo.com :: Visual Magic

Cantante de Mi Corazón – Lila Downs

ella es el cantante de mi corazón – 03.2006

Woman who sings the crying woman
As to Luther did the Inquisition
The arias forged the amplitude of the chords in the throat
But the loudspeaker forged the harmony of a conscience birthed in my neighborhood
Saint Nicholas, every day at five in the morning
In the cold of the mountain, my market city
There, where my umbilical chord is buried, under the cactus plant behind my mother’s house, this is where I will always return, poor, little, daughter- this is grandmother’s wisdom

Lila Downs

I fall in love all the time. In good times, its daily. In times like these, in the shadow of outline of good times that are coming, still huddling from the frost of now and recent nows not so fabulous, my heart huddles out of reach.

Smells tempt and bring back the strongest senses of times past. Taste comes back, I savor things longer, no rush to move or work. Touch of surfaces and skins return, my hands remember to feel again, in temperature and texture. My eyes crawl over the urban glitterscape, looking for the shine, the sparkle, the love. I’m never at a loss for visuals in New York.

But of all these senses, sound is the most profound. I’m a singer, and my body is my tool. Vibrations and tones begin deep inside and pulse outward, loosening, releasing, connecting with each hummed, sung and belted note. It heals, soothes, awakens and realigns the soul with the pattern seeking part of the mind. Concentration increases, calm returns, the ball of raw voice energy begins its solar plexis slow spin. Hearing another singer simply let go and sing brings me to a place of calm.

I’m in love with Lila Downs’ incredible voice. Hearing her sing is both peace and seduction. Her voice is lush, wide open, naturally muscular without being strained, effortless and lovely. Her voice in Paloma Negra halts me every time I hear it. A friend sent me Lila singing Cielo Rojo, which for me is like a long tango into Lila’s voice. It flows up and out of her like butterflies riding a hot, musky gust of mountain air, quenching the recent burns and commiserating with sweet melancholy. Listening to her is like hearing a dear sister sharing the value and depth of our mutual oft-broken hearts. She’s a comfortable place to feel and hear and know love bursts forth and often fails. Her strong, clear voice is laden with sister-mother-maiden-crone wisdom, mystical and elemental all at once.

Check out Lila Downs on her bilingual website.

ella es el cantante de mi corazón – she is the singer of my heart

Peace,
Melissa