Lila Downs plays the Manu Chao song "Clandestino" live in concert at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California on November 6, 2022. The song originally appeared on Manu Chao's debut studio album, Clandestino (1998). Lila Downs released a cover of the song on her fourteenth studio alum, Al Chile (2019).
Lila Downs is a Grammy and Latin Grammy winning singer-songwriter from Oaxaca, Mexico who writes and performs songs in Spanish as well as indigenous Mexican languages such as Zapotec, Mixtec, Trique, Purépecha, and Mayan. This was a special performance through SFJazz to celebrate Día de los Muertos, Mexico’s Day of the Dead. Joining Downs onstage were Rafael Gómez (guitar), Sinuhé Padilla-Isunza (guitar / jarana), Luis Guzmán (bass), Nikki Campbell (percussion), Lautaro “El Primo” Burgos (drums), Josh Deutsch (trumpet), George Sáenz (trombone / accordion), and dancers from Ballet Folklórico El Valle de St. Helena.
=======================
Clandestino lyrics / letra:
Sola voy con mi pena
Sola va mi condena
Correr es mi destino
Para burlar la ley
Perdida en el corazón
De la grande Babylon
Me dicen clandestino
Por no llevar papel
Pa’ una ciudad del norte
Yo me fui a trabajar
Mi vida la deje
Entre Tijuana y Bagdad
Soy una raya en el mar
Fantasma en la ciudad
Mi vida va prohibida
Dice la autoridad
Sola voy con mi pena
Sola va mi condena
Correr es mi destino
Por no llevar papel
Perdida en el corazón
De la grande Babylon
Me dicen clandestina
Yo soy La Quiebra Ley
Peruano, clandestino
Hondureño, clandestino
Mexicana, clandestina
Mariguana, ilegal
Sola voy con mi pena
Sola va mi condena
Correr es mi destino
Para burlar la ley
Perdida en el corazón
De la grande Babylon
Me dicen clandestino
Yo soy La Quiebra Ley
Venezolano, clandestino
Colombiano, clandestino
Sonorense, clandestino
Borderiza, ilegal
Chiapaneca, clandestina
Guerrerense, clandestino
Nicaragüense, clandestino
Salvadoreño, ilegal
Boliviano, clandestino
Oaxaqueña, clandestina
Ecuatoriano, clandestino
Tapatía, ilegal
Written by José-Manuel Thomas Arthur Chao a/k/a Manu Chao
==============
Lila Downs live tour dates (2022):
Aug. 27 - Milwaukee, WI @ Mexican Fiesta / Festival Park
Sept. 10 - Santiago De Querétaro, Mexico @ Auditorio Josefa Ortiz De Dominguez
Sept. 15 - Acapulco De Juárez, Mexico @ Plaza Álvarez
Sept. 18 - Ciudad De Tlatlauquitepec, Mexico @ Feria De Tlatlauquitepec
Oct. 2 - Ljubljana, Slovenia @ Glasbe Sveta
Oct. 4 - Vienna, Austria @ Wiener Konzerthaus
Oct. 6 - Gran Canaria, Spain @ Teatro Perez Galdos
Oct. 8 - Aviles, Spain @ Teatro Palacio Valdés
Oct. 9 - O Grove, Spain @ Fiesta Del Marisco
Oct. 11 - Ponferrada, Spain @ Teatro Bergidum
Oct. 12 - Zaragoza, Spain @ Fiestas Del Pilar
Oct. 14 - Pamplona, Spain @ Auditorio Baluarte
Oct. 20 - Guanajuato, Mexico @ Festival Cervantino
Oct. 22 - Guadalajara, Mexico @ Plaza de Toros Nuevo Progreso
Oct. 26 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Eccles Theater
Oct. 28 - Denver, CO @ Newman Center for the Performing Arts
Nov. 5 - Modesto, CA @ Gallo Center For the Arts
Nov. 6 - Oakland, CA @ Paramount Theatre
Nov. 8 - Costa Mesa, CA @ Segerstrom Concert Hall
Nov. 10 - Los Angeles, CA @ Orpheum Theatre
Nov. 12 - Mesa, AZ @ Mesa Arts Center
===================
Lila Downs' SFJazz show announcement:
SF Jazz: Día De Los Muertos: Al Chile / Day Of The Dead Celebration
With “a stunning voice, a confident multicultural vision grounded in her Mixtec Indian roots” (LA Times), Grammy and Latin Grammy-winning vocalist Lila Downs is one of the most celebrated singers of her generation. She brings a special night of music to the Paramount, celebrating Día de los Muertos, Mexico’s Day of the Dead featuring folklorico dancing, a Mariachi band, stunning visual projections and more.
A native of Oaxaca, Downs built a career bridging cultures and languages, both as a musician and social activist for humanitarian causes. Growing up as the daughter of a Mixtec singer and a renowned American photographer, Downes blended a deep passion for the traditions of her homeland with an ingrained wanderlust. With guidance from her mother and inspiration from Mexican vocal greats Chavela Vargas and Lucha Villa balanced by the gamut of American music she heard in the US, Downs began singing rancheras at eight and explored the indigenous music of the Mixtec and Zapotec traditions of Oaxaca.
She made her major label debut with 1999’s jazz-informed La Sandunga, and her contributions to the 2002 Frida Kahlo biopic Frida elevated her status to that of major international star. Downs has become recognized worldwide as a global ambassador for Mexico’s folkloric traditions and champion for the preservation of native Mexican culture, recording songs in indigenous Mayan, Nahuatl, Trique, and Purépecha languages. Her latest Sony Music album, Al Chile, honors the food, women, and culture of Mexico.
===========
Typo catcher: Lela Downs, Leela Down, Mano Chao, Manu Chow, Clandensito, Illegal