River2River - the place to be.

Has anybody out there been attending the freebies offered by River To River Festival 2004? This is a really great way to spend a NYC summer evening in a magnificent setting. I mentioned in a previous BLOG that I attended the Amie Mann concert in Rockefeller Park. Well, two nights ago, my friend Stu and I went to the World Financial Center (the concert is on the Plaza, behind the center, at the Yacht Basin) to see two women performers: Luciana Souza and Lila Downs. The former is from Brazil and she was good: a blend of jazz, classical chanteuse and pop composer.

Stu, crosswording, as we waited for the concert to begin. 


Luciana Souza performs under the glass and steel skyscrapers of the World Financial Center. 


A beautiful place to listen to music on a hot summer night -- cooled by the breezes of the Hudson. 


Lila Downs 

The hit of the night for me was Lila Downs a Mexican American singer. It's hard to describe how impressive she is. First -- as a fabulous singer with a vocal range that runs from deep, sultry and throaty to what seems to the highest notes a human voice can possibly produce. Secondly, as an amazing stage performer - she danced and jumped around the stage with so much energy you would think she would be breathless, but no - on and on she went, at times carrying a big drum that she would beat out the music to -- other times rapping the drum sticks together in the air above her head. She was, in a word, electric. And she electrified the audience who seemed not to be able to get enough of her. That's how I felt -- I wanted her to go on and on. Her band was wonderful as well and included harp, bass, guitars, drums and fiddle.


Lila - unbridled talent and energy. She mesmerized me. 



A great singer. An enchanting entertainer. 

Her music brings the traditional music of Mexico and blends it with jazz, gospel and hip-hop to produce a melange unlike anything I've seen or heard. I loved it. if you can get her new album, One Blood - Una Sangre, do it. You've undoubtedly heard the song La Cucaracha a million times or more. But you've never heard it the way Lila Downs sings it. I was floored.

The Financial Center and, indeed, the whole of Battery Park City with its promenade and gardens sitting astride the Hudson is the place to be on hot, summer nights such as these. What a delight. The view out over the river or upwards to the glass skyscrapers over head is very dramatic.

Afterwards, Stu and I ate at Lily's, a Chinese restaurant in the area.