November is here and the yellow, black and white flag is being waved across the country. It is the month that we celebrate the Garifuna culture and heritage as part of the Garifuna Settlement Day activities. Having settled in our country in 1832, the Garifuna have incorporated themselves beautifully in this, our melting pot of cultures. Not only have the incorporated themselves but through their beliefs and music, have transcended our country into a new level of cultural pride. Andy Palacio allowed the Garifuna beats to shine brightly and proudly worldwide and although his time was cut much too short, his legacy continues to live on, not only in his music but through the love of our country and his culture. His music evokes the culture we so proudly celebrate in this month of November.

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    November 19^th marks the arrival of the Garifuna people to Dangriga. The Garifuna are a people produced from the merging of two cultures. The history goes that two slave ships were shipwrecked in the Caribbean near the island of St. Vincent. The slaves escaped the sinking boat and reached the shores of the island, where they were welcomed by the Caribs, who offered their protection. Their intermarriage formed the Garifuna people. The Garifuna adopted the Carib language but kept their African musical and religious traditions.

 Read more by clicking here.

As part of their project of creating top 100 album lists for a number of music categories, Amazon has just posted its list of the 100 Greatest World Music Albums of All Time. Heading the list is the album “Wátina” by Andy Palacio and the Garifuna Collective. In a release, Ivan Duran said, “The list features amazing artists from around the world including legendary icons such as Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, Celia Cruz, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Tito Puente, Youssou N’Dour, Peter Tosh, Ravi Shankar among others. Congrats Andy! You continue to be an inspiration for many of us.”

The list includes a number of other Caribbean basin albums: The Buena Vista Social Club (10), Bob Marley’s Catch a Fire (11), Jamaica’s King Tubby (13), and Tito Puente’s Dance Mania (28) are among the top 30.

The complete list can be found at http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000416151

Hot temperatures, nice people, tasty cocktails, good atmosphere, great food and last but not least: breathtaking music… This is a short review of what is for already eleven years a splendid festival. Somewhere in the north-east part of Limburg, in a small town called Opitter, is every year transformed to the centre for a mix of fantastic afro-latino vibes! 

 

Andy Palacio

 

DLG

 

Tabou Combo

Yerba Buena

 

Shaggy

 

Jean Bosco Safari

 

Freshly Ground

 

Vieux Farka Touré

 

Lumidee (DJ)

 

Jean Bosco Safari

 

 

And on the 20th and 21st of june we all can enjoy again from a nice list of artists who will give there best of themselves. For more info, just visit their website at: www.afro-latino.be

    

Afro-Latino Festival

 

 Just enjoy these photos, and maybe we meet us there!

 

Published in The Guardian, 2007:

Andy Palacio and the Garifuna Collective featuring Paul Nabor at Stern Grove in San Francisto on July 29, 2007.

Famous Belizean Garifuna musician, Andy Palacio, had just won the World Music Awards in Sevilla, Spain in late 2007 when shortly after he succumbed to his death by heart attack.   Andy was a world superstar.  He was an incredible ambassador of his Garifuna heritage and culture.

One of my favorite CDs from 2007 is Andy Palacio (and the Garifuna Collective)’s Watina.  It’s definitely my ”most listened to” CD of 2007.  I listened to it at least once a week at work and countless times during my family’s summer vacation to Destin, FL last May.  Recently, it has won many “world music” awards from countires all around the world.  The CD was partially Andy’s attempt to revive the language of the Garifuna culture – the culture he grew up in.  After a long and varied career, he considered Watina his masterpiece.

It’s a collection of summer-y, tropical, sometimes-beachy, somtimes-political songs that really ease your mind.  It was for this reason that I threw it on this morning on my drive to work.  It was a bright and warm(-ish) morning in Seattle and I was in the mood for something familiar, comforting, and tropical.  After I got to work, I decided to learn more about Andy Palacio and find out if he was coming to Seattle any time soon as his live shows are known to be amazing.  I was saddened to find that he passed away on January 19, 2008.  He was only 47 and at the height of his world popularity.

Here are some links to get a taste of the music of Watina and Andy Palacio:
Youtube Video of Watina (the first song on the CD)
Watina on Amazon
Obituary from The Times
Wikipedia

Wátina – Andy Palacio

Andy Palacio Gewinner des renommierten BBC3 World Music Award 2008 ist überraschend gestorben. Ein großer Verlust für seine Fans weltweit! Der populäre Musiker aus Belize setzte sich insbesondere für die Musik der einheimischen Bevölkerung “Garifuna” ein und wirkte als ihr Kulturbotschafter.

Die Nominierung für den World Music Award 2008, üblicherweise erst im April veröffentlicht, wurde wegen seines Todes vorab bekanntgegeben.

Today’s Top post on BBC Caribbean is on a “rare state funeral” for Belizean musical artist Andy Palacio, who’s Garifunu style sounds can be heard all over the world.

The BBC Caribbean article reads:

[Palacio] single-handedly put Belize on the world music map.

His 2007 album Wátina had become one of the most critically acclaimed recordings of the year in any genre.

Palacio died on 19 January in Belize after suffering from a Stroke in the United States. A story on Amandala, A Belize Newspaper Source, reads:

A massive brain stroke, a heart attack and respiratory failure claimed the life of our beloved Garifuna brother, world famous signer/musician and personal friend, Andy Palacio, 47, known to many as just “Andy” or “Andy P.”

Visit the following links to learn more about Andy Palacio:

http://www.belizean.com/

http://andypalacio.calabashmusic.com/

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3239586.ece

On my way back from school today I learned Andy Palacio died over the weekend in his native country Belize from a massive stroke and heart-attack. Palacio is not only the most famous Belizean, but also a national hero. I am so sadden by his death because he single-handedly brought Garifuna music to the world’s attention, and for that matter, saved Garifuna music. It is quite hard to imagine Garifuna music without Andy Palacio but I’m hopeful that he left it in good hands.

What made me even more saddened is the fact that his last album, Wátina, released in 2007, was a masterpiece. I don’t think there is any word that describes how beautiful Watina is, but I’m glad he left the world with his music, his efforts of preserving Garifuna culture/music and his humanitarianism.

Now knowing his death will make me cry next time I listen to the last song on the album called “Ámuñegü” (In Times to Come), in which Andy reflects about Garifuna music, his fear of Garifuna culture and language becoming extinct.

UPDATE: Below is the English translation of Ámuñegü, thanks to Notes From the Barn. 

I wonder who will bake cassava* bread for us in times to come
I wonder who will speak with me in Garifuna in times to come
I wonder who will sing Aruumahani** songs with me in times to come
I wonder who will heal us with the dugu** in times to come

The time has come for it to be preserved
The time has come for it to be taught
The time has come for it to be preserved
Lest we lose it altogether

Our ancestors fought to remain Garifuna
Why must we be the ones to lose our culture?
Let’s not do it

Parents, please listen to me.
Teach the children Our language and our songs; our beliefs and our dances

The time has come for it to be preserved
The time has come for it to be taught
The time has come for it to be preserved
Lest we lose it altogether

Lest we lose it altogether

To you Andy, thanks for leaving us with your music and for preserving Garifuna culture and music.

Rest in peace.

For those who do not know about Andy Palacio and Garifuna music, here’s a video that’ll help.

I can’t believe I missed these guys when they played in Minneapolis last summer. (There are some upcoming tour dates in the US starting early April.)

Cumbancha

Update: very sad news: Andy Palacio, Who Saved Garifuna Music, Dies at 47

This is a list of the Top 10 World Music albums I have compiled based upon other Top 10 countdowns in addition to albums I have heard tossed around at local record stores and concert venues. Feel free to comment or create your own. I’m always looking for suggestions on tunes to listen to.

1. Aman Iman by Tinariwen from Touareg tribe from Mali

2. Watina by Andy Palacio and the Garifuna Collective from Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras

3. Segu Blue by Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba from Mali

4. Dijn Dijn by Angelique Kidjo from Benin
5. Guiding Star by Vusi Mahlasela from South Africa
6. Cafe Noir by Papa Noel with musicians from the Congo and Cuba
7. Red Soil In My Eyes by Somi (An American with Rwandese and Ugandan heritage and an absolutely stunning voice. Her website is a wonderful way to start exploring her music.)

8. Security by Antibalas Afropop / Jazz / Funk from the U.S. by way of Africa and beyond
9. So the Journey Goes by Autorickshaw (Indian-influenced jazz and electronica from Canada)
10. Momento by Bebel Gilberto from Brazil