Perla Batalla

Perla Batalla is a Grammy-nominated vocalist, composer and arranger who first gained international attention as a backup singer for Leonard Cohen before embarking on a solo career at the latter's encouragement.

Of Mexican ancestry, Batalla was born in Los Angeles. Her father was a mariachi musician and owned a popular Spanish language record store. Her mother is from South America.

Batalla released her debut CD, Perla Batalla, on the Warner/Discovery label to great critical success.

Like many original artists, Batalla opted to go independent early on, releasing her second album, "Mestiza" (meaning of mixed blood) on her own Mechuda Music label. "Heaven and Earth" followed, completing the Mestiza song-cycle. Both CDs were co-written with David Batteau. They offer a vision of a vibrant culture still nourished and inhabited by mysticism, imagery, magic and myth. Amazon named Mestiza Best Independent Release of the year.

"Discoteca Batalla" was Perla’s follow-up album to the Mestiza song cycle. An innovative undertaking of contagious rhythm and pure joy, it was recorded in 2002 as an homage to her parents' record shop of the same name. Discoteca Batalla is a compilation of new compositions interspersed with pristine treatments of traditional Spanish language classics arranged to reflect Perla’s rich bi-cultural personal and musical heritage. In 2004 Perla was invited by The Kennedy Center to perform songs from the album as artist in residence.

Batalla’s 2007 tribute to Cohen, titled "Bird on the Wire" (also nominated for a Grammy), was embraced by diehard Cohen fans and critics alike. Sing Out magazine's Michael Tearson wrote: “Beautifully conceived and executed, Bird on the Wire is a rewarding listening experience I find myself returning to frequently. It is every bit the equal of Jennifer Warnes' classic Cohen tribute album Famous Blue Raincoat. For those uninitiated to the glories of the songs of Leonard Cohen this is a wonderful introduction. For the rest of us it is simply heavenly.”

Her next release, "Gracias a la Vida", in 2008, is her anthology of traditional South American songs inspired by a heart-awakening trip to meet her Argentine family. The results are a great introduction to early Argentine tango-song.

In keeping with the annual tradition of recording a holiday song with her daughter, in 2010 Batalla released a first collection of favored holiday songs titled "We Three Kings." (Chosen as KCRW's top tune for Christmas.) Including "Love is Everything", "The Nearness of You", "The Very Thought of You" and "A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square".

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Wikipedia