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La Sandunga
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Price: $9.94
Price subject to change!
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To view Amazon.com's best price click on the above link. Please note that you are under no obligation to buy. If you decide to add your selection of "La Sandunga" to your Amazon shopping cart. You may then return to CD Nature.com to shop for additional New Age Music or continue shopping at Amazon.com.
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0724359364223
Format: Extra tracks
Label: Narada
Manufacturer: Narada
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Narada
Release Date: 2003-09-30
Studio: Narada
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Customer reviews of La Sandunga
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Sublime
Comment: Amongst all four Lila Downs releases so far, there is little doubt in my mind that this one remains an all time favorite.
Needless to say, I have become a huge fan, and all CDs by Lila and her fabulous band fully deserve five stars, period. But this one is the most indengenious one, the one of her roots, where her true character and amibition shine through in its most pure form.
I especially adore songs like La Sandunga with its magic touch, or Naila, maybe because I am a bit a sentimental guy. Anyway - buy all of her CD's, but give this one a special listen.
Hopefully, she will never burn out and continue with her wonderful voice and the intelligence and subtelty of her almost dylanesque or even taupinian lyrics.
Sublime.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Sung poetry at its best....
Comment:
Lila Downs put together a collection of songs that not only speak to the magic of Southern Mexico; they transport us to the deep old roots of indigenous beliefs and clashing-culture interactions. A general glance at the tracks is enough to grasp the great lyrical tradition of Mexico.
Mexico sings to the women, and Lila Downs, a woman herself, puts her heart into the singing with her powerful, hunting voice. Tracks such as "La Llorona", traditional within the Mexican psyche, speak of the life and deeds of two beautiful women who are being flattered by the strophes dedicated to them through singing. They are key figures in Mexican tradition and their presence has endured the pass of years (since Colonial times) to the point of being perpetuated in such wonderful songs as interpreted by Downs.
Most of the tracks are favored nationally in Mexico. Lila Downs has taken them and made some outstanding arrangements, rendering them unique and magical. "La Llorona". "Sabor a Mi", "El Venadito", "La Malagueña" and "Perfume de Gardenias" make you relive the past and think of the present as a new time in which tradition and love mesh indistinctly.
As a young Mexican myself, I find Lila Down's albums a means of discovery to my own culture, as opposed to those over-played singers of the present whose new rhythms lack the charateristical sounds of Mexico.
Iván A. Ch.
Customer Rating:
Summary: a glimpse into Lila Downs' rich, cultural heritage.......
Comment: I cannot emphasize enough how stunningly gorgeous and heartfelt this album is. "La Sandunga" presents the dual cultural identity of Lila Downs to the masses. Following the release of the soundtrack from the movie, "Frida," Downs' talent was brought to the forefront, once people became aware of her featured musical contributions to the album. "La Sandunga" is a prequel, if you will, to this surge in popularity. This album was originally released in 1997. We hear Lila Downs' rich cultural influences of her maternal Mixtec Indian lineage in "La Llorona" and "Sandunga" (more traditional flavored songs), and a more jazzy take on the classic "Besame Mucho" (deriving the more Americanized influences, channeling her father's side--he is of Scottish ancestry, but born in the United States).
Lila Downs' album is a great opportunity for those of us, previously not exposed to Mixtec music, to listen to the best of the best. Whether we hear jazz rhythms, traditional percussive instruments derived from Mexico's indigenous roots, or more traditional Spanish-derived ballads, this is a true example of how all music is interconnected through rhythm, interpretation and emotional sentiment. You will love this...I guarantee it.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: La Sandunga by Lila Downs
Comment: I really didn't want to give a star at all. It was definitely too militant. I was introduced to her from the Frida CD and have Border and was somewhat happy with that as there were just a few what I would call militant songs. By this La Sandunga is by far toooooo much.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The sultry, sassy sound of Downs at her best in this debut CD!
Comment: I first heard Lila Downs' distinctive sultry, sassy voice in the film "Frida." The movie's entire soundtrack is extraordinary, and I still listen to the CD frequently. Fortunately Ms. Downs has come out with four albums since then. I bought them all because I love the passion and soul she puts into her music. "La Sandunga," her debut album released in 1997, is one of my favorites, with its highly original arrangements. She weaves the indigenous music of her native lands - Mexico and the United States - into a multicultural fabric. Her variegated sound is a real fusion of Mexican folk songs, rich American blues and jazz, along with some pop, mixed in with Afro-Cuban and Brazilian rhythms. Lyrics are in Spanish, English and Mexico's Mayan, Zapotec, Nahuatl, and Mixtec Indian dialects. I have never heard the classics "La Llorona" and "La Malaguena" sung quite like this before. Absolutely fantastic!!
"La Sandunga" is an unusually eclectic mix, based on Ms. Downs' international artistic vision! Her formal vocal training (opera) gives her a tremendously varied range. Her songs come from the villages whose culture she studied after leaving opera studies and her repertoire includes boleros, ballads and rancheros, as well as original compositions backed by a multi-ethnic, very talented band. A Brazilian guitarist, a Cuban bassist, a Chilean drummer, a Mexican harpist, and a pianist/saxophonist/musical director from New Jersey create a creative, crisp, jazzy, at times bluesy Latin sound.
The title song, "La Sandunga," is a traditional Zapotec folk song. It is usually played at local festivities and at weddings. "La Zandunga" is a type of cancion performed as a Mexican waltz. It is a result of the music of the conquistadores,' who arrived from the Spanish provinces of Navarra and Leon, combined with that of indigenous cultures.
Other highlights include: "Pobre Changuita," which epitomizes Mexican country music and is one of my favorite cuts; "Ofrenda" is a corrido inspired by Mixtec immigrants who come to the US to find work and die here; "Yunu Yucu Ninu" is an extraordinary Mixtec poem written by Juan de Dios Ortiz, a Mixtec poet from San Miguel el Grande. It is truly beautiful. There is a Spanish and English translation in the linear notes; "Pinotepa," another favorite, is known as a chilena, a musical style brought from Chile by African slaves; The last three songs, bonus tracks, "Perfume de Gardenias," "La Maleguena," "Besame Mucho," are "part of a musical collaboration with choreographer Cecilia Lugo and the contemporary dance company Contempodanza. They were originally part of a collection called 'Trazos,' released in limited edition in 1999." I already mentioned "La Llorona" above.
Lila Downs is a Mexican-American vocalist, with a Scottish-American father, and a Mixteca mother. She grew up in both the Mexican state of Oaxaca and in Minnesota, USA, bi-lingual and bi-cultural. Lila received formal voice training in Mexico and in the States, and performs her own compositions, as well as tapping into the rich music from Mexico's indigenous peoples. Ms. Downs stated during an interview: "I have this special relationship with my voice. Though I've never considered myself to be a spiritual person....it's a spiritual feeling I have, which began when I studied anthropology. I began to have something approaching awe for this thing that came out of my body, which had to do with something bigger than me. Awe for this gift."
La Sandunga" is a wonderful CD! Lila Downs is a unique artist - simply superb! Highly recommended.
JANA
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Editorial Reviews:
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World musician Lila Downs experienced a career renaissance thanks to her contributions to the 2002 Frida movie and soundtrack . After two well-received solo albums, the Narada label has reissued Downs' dramatic debut album, La Sandunga. The singer released the album independently in 1997, and it still sparkles with the immediacy and passion of a woman completely connected to and excited by her craft. Every song on La Sandunga, including the album's three bonus tracks, flows effortlessly into the next. It's as if the album was recorded without pause during one very creative recording session. Downs' Mixtec-Indian and American background is an obvious influence on her work. The album is peppered with lush strings and blaring horns. It's all anchored by Downs' wildly diverse vocal stylings, which even manage to spice up the oft-recorded album closer, "Besame Mucho." --Joey Guerra
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