Lila Downs Concert Is Mini-Guelaguetza Extravaganza
How could each Lila Downs Concert be better then those that came before? The Best Ever is what I heard people say who have gone to many in the past. I don’t know, but Lila Downs knows how to dazzle a crowd. The Guelaguetza Stadium on the Cerro Fortin in Oaxaca city was full on […]
Lila Downs Dazzles at Latin Grammy Awards
She is ours — Oaxaca’s goddess of song and lyrics. Lila Downs went on stage to perform at the 13th Latin Grammy Awards on November 15, again recognized for what she has contributed to the music world. The Examiner article says it all. Accolades, too, to Paul Cohen, Lila’s husband, producer and collaborator. Here are two photos I’ve […]
Tribute to the Women of Oaxaca by Lila Downs. Disfruta bien! Enjoy!
“Era importante para mí hacer un tributo a algunas mujeres de mi país que muelen maíz y lo llevan al canto y lo celebran como un milagro que a mí me ha inspirado mucho para poder seguir caminando y cantando.” ~ Lila Downs “It was important for me to honor the women of my country […]
Toto la Momposina Adds Caribbean-Latin Flavor to Lila Downs Concert
The hot band Toto la Momposina (click on this link to hear their great music) from Colombia, South America, opened for Lila Downs last night at the Auditorio Guelaguetza in Oaxaca. Lead singer Sonia Bazanta Vides, who has been dazzling audiences with her voice for over 50 years, announced this was her last concert (if I understood […]
A Night with Lila Downs in Oaxaca — Up Close at the Concert
As soon as I heard that Lila Downs was performing in Oaxaca, I ordered two (muy facile), never imagining that I would end up in front row on the rail right next to the stage. Que milagro! Though my bags were checked at the gate, I managed to smuggle in my camera. All the signs said […]
Lila Downs Concert in Oaxaca on November 5, 2011
Lucky us! Lila Downs is performing at the Auditorio Guelaguetza on Saturday, November 5. The concert starts at 7 p.m. and you can purchase tickets at Ahorra Farmacia in Oaxaca or online at Ticketmaster. I bought two tickets on-line and can’t wait. Lila Downs is one of my favorite singer-songwriters and her Oaxaca roots make her […]
University of Wisconsin Hosts Oaxaca Weaver Tito Mendoza, October 7-12, 2011
News and Events: Oaxaca, Mexico weaver and artist Erasto “Tito” Mendoza will be in Madison and Whitewater, Wisconsin, October 7-12, 2011, to discuss and demonstrate tapestry weaving techniques. *** For weaver Erasto “Tito” Mendoza, weaving is more than a skill passed down through the generations of his Zapotec family. It is an art form that […]
Book Review: Weaving, Culture and Economic Development in Miramar, Oaxaca, Mexico
Book: Weaving Yarn, Weaving Culture, Weaving Lives: A Circle of Women in Miramar, Oaxaca, Mexico; published by Almadia, 2010; photography by Tom Feher, text by Judith Lockhart-Radtke; ISBN: 978-607-411-059-3 Book Review by Norma Hawthorne Stunning photographs and intimate personal interviews of indigenous Mixtec women weavers accentuate what it means to keep culture, community, and weaving […]
Las Cuevitas, Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico
They call it “the little caves.” The road there curves through the village from the church, up the narrow cobblestone paved streets, crosses over a bridge, then becomes dirt at the outskirts of town. If you closed your eyes, you could be in medieval Europe, but you are in southern Mexico and it is January […]
Las Cuevitas 2010
We arrived late in the afternoon at that magic hour between daylight and sunset when everything is aglow. Village people had been gathering on the mountainside behind the village since last night, many of them camping overnight. There are some shallow caves there that are holy altars and each year a pilgrimage takes place to […]