For Natalia Lafourcade, playing again at the Hollywood Bowl is the next step on her legendary journey

Natalia Lafourcade sits on a bench in the middle of the Blue Ribbon Garden, which is located above the Walt Disney Concert Hall, with her guitar in hand. It is a dreary Saturday in early May and the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter from the Mexican coast of Veracruz is wearing a tan coat over her long orange dress to protect her petite frame from the icy wind. Two microphones are in front of her; she waits quietly for the go-ahead signal from the video crew, who are standing about five meters away, to begin playback.

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When Lafourcade gets her cue, she strums the opening notes of “Pajarito Colibrí,” a comforting folk ballad from “De Todas las Flores,” her latest album, 2022, that seems like a plea for a hummingbird—or anyone listening, really—to fly away and fulfill its purpose.

“Everything will be fine, little hummingbird, don't be afraid to live.” (“Everything will be fine, little hummingbird, you came into this world to be happy.”)

As if summoned, a chorus of songbirds resting in the garden's trees begins to accompany Lafourcade, transforming the shoot of a music video promoting her upcoming shows at the Hollywood Bowl (September 6-7) with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic into the otherworldly performance her fans have come to expect.

Over the past two decades, Lafourcade, who turned 40 in February, has established herself as one of Latin America's most revered and celebrated artists, a custodian of the rich Mexican songbook who has contributed much to it. Her 10 studio albums have earned her 17 Latin Grammys – the most for a female artist – and four Grammys.

Lafourcade burst onto the scene in 2002 with her eponymous debut album, a mix of Spanish rock, pop, jazz and bossa nova that spawned hits like “En el 2000” and “Busca un Problema.” In 2012, she released “Mujer Divina,” a groundbreaking record that paid tribute to Mexico's bolero king Agustín Lara through modern interpretations of his most beloved love ballads. For the recording, she enlisted the help of collaborators such as Venezuelan-American indie folk singer Devendra Banhart, Emmanuel del Real of the famed Café Tacvba and legendary Brazilian Tropicalia guitarist Gilberto Gil.

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Hasta la Raiz, a breakthrough album that fully showcased Lafourcade's intimate lyricism, arrived three years later. The LP's eponymous single, an ode to a former lover built on a huapango riff, is arguably the singer-songwriter's most popular track. The record also features “Nada Es Suficiente,” an electropop cumbia about feeling dissatisfied in a relationship (the track means “nothing is enough”) that became an even bigger hit after Lafourcade re-recorded it with cumbia sonidera masters Los Angeles Azules—that version has been played more than 2.1 billion times on YouTube since its release. Hasta La Raiz was followed by two volumes of Musas (released in 2017 and 2018), a collection of covers of traditional Latin classics and original material recorded with guitar duo Los Macorinos.

In 2019, Lafourcade performed at the Hollywood Bowl for the first time. Accompanied by Dudamel and the LA Phil, she entertained the audience for nearly three hours with a setlist that ranged from Son Jarocho to Rock en Español to Cumbia. In a career with many highlights, Lafourcade calls this concert one of her finest moments as an artist. It was an experience she suspected she would repeat one day.

“I felt like I had been struck by lightning, pinning me to the ground beneath my feet. At that moment, I knew I would return and find someone I could connect with,” she said, referring to Dudamel.

“It was an iconic evening, one of the greatest in the history of the Hollywood Bowl. The Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix, there is so much history in this place and at the top of the list is this evening with Natalia Lafourcade,” said the Venezuelan-born conductor, who has made a concerted effort During his tenure as conductor of the LA Phil, he worked to integrate Latin American music into the orchestra's programming.

“It's a privilege for us to play with her,” he added. “Los Angeles is a very Latino city, a very Mexican city. To see such a great representative of that Latino identity playing at the Hollywood Bowl is very important and necessary.”

Lafourcade has released three studio albums in the five years since that memorable concert: two volumes of “Un Canto por México” (released in 2020 and 2021), tributes to her homeland that include covers of classics such as “Cien Años,” “Ya No Vivo Por Vivir,” and “La Llorona,” as well as reinterpretations of her own songs; and “De Todas las Flores” (2022), her first record with completely new material since “Hasta la Raíz.”

“De Todas las Flores” was a pandemic project that took two years to complete. Stuck at home in Veracruz, Lafourcade was forced to spend time by herself. She re-listened to fragments of incomplete songs she had recorded on her phone and turned to French-Mexican musician and producer Adán Jodorowsky — son of filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky and her former neighbor in Mexico City — to help her flesh them out. The end result was Lafourcade’s most vulnerable and reflective album yet, which begins with the realization that we come to this earth alone (“Vine Solita”) and ends with a farewell to a loved one who has died (“Que te Vaya Bonito, Nicolás”). In between are songs about love (“Mi Manera de Querer”), healing (“María la Curandera”) and letting the wind take you wherever it wants (“Viento”).

The album was well received and earned Lafourcade three Latin Grammys – Record of the Year, Singer-Songwriter Album and Singer-Songwriter Song – as well as a Grammy for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album, an award she shared with Colombian rocker Juanes.

“I feel like this record was a teacher that taught me about life, death, cycles and time. It also taught me about patience and calm, about resting and flowing and giving myself wings and surrendering to myself,” she said.

“I remember saying to myself shortly after the release of 'De Todas las Flores' that I couldn't let seven years go by before releasing a new record. Now I'm not so sure. This year I turned 40 and the big question was 'And now, where to?' I think it's wonderful to be able to ask myself that question, knowing exactly what a journey I've been on.”

For now, Lafourcade is focusing on her upcoming concerts with Dudamel and the LA Phil – in addition to the two dates at the Hollywood Bowl, a performance with the orchestra is planned for next month at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

“Our collaboration was about bringing our two worlds, our two universes together and seeing what magic, synergy and alchemy happens,” she said, adding that the setlist for those shows will consist of the songs that most symbolically represent her two-decade-long journey.

In addition, Lafourcade indicated that she has started working on some projects that she hopes will be realized in 2025, although nothing is concrete yet.

“I'm not in a rush,” she said. “I try to do things at my own pace. I've finally realized that going at my own pace works for me.”

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.