Music |
Andy Palacio and the Garifuna Collective
By
Published: Aug 07, 2023
Category:
World
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In the homes of zillionaire Americans and English nobles, I think it’s more or less assumed that a butler is available 24/7 to serve up toast-and-chevre or the most readable book about Gerhard Richter. Except for a week in late August and another in December, this butler is happy to comply. This summer, however, my screen project is stalled because I’m on strike, and my two book projects are victims of agent vacations and publishing’s general torpor, so I’ll use this month to work on my new novel. I won’t slight Butler — though you may be vacationing, I’ll publish four times a week this month, except for the week before Labor Day. With one wrinkle: I’m going to poke round the archives, and in those 2,500 reviews, pluck out a few old favorites that I’m almost positive most of you missed. Starting with this beauty….
In the 1700s, West African slaves were shipwrecked on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent. They intermarried with Arawak Indians and lived peacefully until the English forced them into exile on a small, resource-poor island off Honduras. They moved to the mainland, where their identity has blurred over the centuries. Now there are just 11,500 Garifunans living in Belize — and the Garifunan language, which is taught in only one village there, has been designated by the United Nations as among the “masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity.”
“Watina” is like music from another planet. You’ve never heard anything like it. Just watch the video of the title song and listen to the music.
Andy Palacio once modified his culture’s music so it would have wider appeal. But the threat that it might become extinct encouraged him to return to his roots. And so he assembled all-star Garifunan musicians in a thatched-roof shack on Belize’s Caribbean coast and spent four months with that band, playing endangered music deep into the night. When I played this, late at night and lightly aloft, I closed my eyes and, that rare event, let the music take me.
It’s not reggae, though reggae is its cousin. It’s not African music, though Africa pounds in its blood. It’s 12 songs, a mosaic of subtle harmonies, led by a singer who can tap deep emotions. It’s hope and frustration, resilience and small triumphs, an irresistible invitation to get up and seize all the pleasure you can. Not that you’ll understand a word of it — you’ll feel the rhythm and just know. [To buy the MP3 download from Amazon, click here.]
It takes a lot to make Americans listen to music recorded beyond our borders. We probably would never have come to love Buena Vista Social Club if renowned musician and producer Ry Cooder hadn’t conceived the idea of a CD made by Cuban musicians so old they predate Castro and if Wim Wenders hadn’t made an award-winning documentary film that turned seventy-year-olds who were unknown to Americans into brand names.
Andy Palacio didn’t have Buena Vista’s advantages. He was from Belize, the least-populated country in Central America. His music celebrated a culture known to maybe five American Caucasians. In January of 2008, with praise from many critics ringing in his ears, he suffered a massive stroke and heart attack, and died. He was just 47.
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There’s a terrific companion CD, “Umalali: The Garifuna Women’s Project.” Read about it here.
