NPR

After her partner's death, Lila Downs records 'La Sánchez,' her most personal album

Downs and saxophonist Paul Cohen had been together for almost 30 years. She says her latest album is therapy for the soul.
Grammy award winner Lila Downs is known to sing about love, loss and her tricultural identity. But her latest album, <em>La Sánchez</em>, is her most personal yet.

It's been a journey for Mexican singer Lila Downs.

She and her life partner, saxophonist Paul Cohen, were working together on her latest album, La Sánchez when Cohen died from a heart condition. He was 69.

"It was tough. I had to keep working because I knew that it would affect my voice if I didn't," Downs says. "So, I decided to go [on tour] to Argentina in January and I decided to record the voice for

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