Perla Batalla

Who is Perla Batalla?

Perla Batalla is a Mexican-American singer-songwriter.

Grammy nominated vocalist, composer, and arranger Perla Batalla was born in Los Angeles, CA. Her father was a musician and owned a popular Spanish language record store. She first gained international attention as a backup singer for Leonard Cohen who later encouraged Perla to embark on a solo career.

Perla released her debut cd, Perla Batalla on the Warner/Discovery label to great critical success. Like many original artists, Perla opted to go independent early on, releasing her second album, "Mestiza" on her own Mechuda Music label. "Heaven and Earth" followed, completing the Mestiza song-cycle. Both CD’s 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.