Shake Away

I get chills when Downs re-interprets classic Mexican styles. Her voice is a wonder and I'll still be on board for her next disc. A lot of the songs here are inspired by something other than old Mother Mexico. that's fine and she shouldn't be put in a box but I'm not as interested in her take on New Orleans or rock music. Maybe you'll like it more than I did.

Lila Downs pulls out the stops on this record and covers a wide range of styles - but with superb skill and results! She even looks different on the cover photos from her earlier recordings. This woman is "Shakin'".

The more I listen to Lilia's Shake Away the more I like it. I love her bands intricate skills, playing different styles and rhythms, weaving Native Mexican, South American and Jazz - Pop song styles together.

Nina Simone, Grace Slick, Tish Hinojosa...she evokes them all (at least in my ears).
A gorgeous album -- in turns delightful, hopeful, yearning, seductive, sincere...

I like Lila Downs and I have all her previous CDs. This new release, from its booklet to the orchestration seems to be directed at young listeners (at heart or otherwise !). There are neither any ground-breaking tunes nor complete failures. Her "protest" style surfaces here and there. All in all, Paul Cohen and his friends perform quite nicely (even better than before) and Lila Downs sings perfectly as always. The reason for my 4 stars instead of 5 is this: They (Downs & Cohen & friends) did not go further and instead chose to play in the safe ground. No experimentations here, no extraordinary vocals, no "wow"! Still, this is a fine album for fans and Latin lovers.