The Garifuna Collective: A Heroic Welcome Home!
Those tireless Belizean music and cultural ambassadors who form the Garifuna Collective landed back home last Tuesday (15 July 2014) after another successful overseas tour.
The latest tour, running from Germany to Serbia with a big showing at the prestigious “Summer of Antwerp” festival, drew crowds from all over Europe, attended by faithful fans and many others getting their first taste of what has been hailed as some of the most unique, refreshing sounds coming out of the Americas.
The tour supported the European release of the Collective’s most recent album, Ayó (Goodbye), which the UK’s Guardian newspaper described as starting “with a lilting farewell to (Andy) Palacio, and eases into rousing, soulful songs driven by guitars and the distinctive rhythms of the Garifuna hand-drums, with strong vocals from Lloyd Augustine and Desiree Diego, and a dash of dub and funk.”
The definitive World Music site Cumbancha called it, “A magical album of soul-stirring songs that reflect the rich heritage and appealing sound of contemporary Garifuna music. With a lineup that consists of the best musicians in the fertile Garifuna music scene, The Garifuna Collective promises to carry the torch of cultural innovation and promotion passed on by Andy Palacio far into the future.
“The Garifuna Collective and Wátina producer Ivan Duran have created a magical album whose songs of heartbreak, hope and joy will take your breath away.”
Couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
When we reported on the band’s North American tour last year (Why I Love the Garifuna Collective, 16 July 2013) the Collective was just beginning to gain a greater global audience and grow in popularity. Since that time they’ve moved from success to success, and are now considered as an essential addition to any serious world music collection, joining former founding member the late Andy Palacio as well as Paul Nabor and Aurelio Martinez in the panoply of internationally recognised Belizean artists.
And, as we wrote earlier, if you’re interested in Belizean music, we strongly suggest that you check out the Stonetree Records catalogue – www.stonetreerecords.com. It covers the broad range of the different musical styles of Belize and is a one-stop shop for some of the most interesting music on the planet.
You’ll be amazed by the diversity, talent and sheer joy that comes out of Belize.
So, with that in mind, we’re looking forward to hearing more from this soulful collective of talented musicians. Hopefully, we won’t have long to wait, as the group is reportedly ready to hit the studio to work on their next release, according to vocalist Desiree Diego, who said, “Even though the tour just finished, the work continues”
Music to our ears.
You can find out more about the Garifuna Collective by visiting their Facebook page and website (http://www.garifunacollective.com/). If you share our love for music, you’ll be very glad you did.