Andy Palacio and the Garifuna Collective

Wátina (Stonetree)

-JB

The Garifuna people are predominantly based around the Caribbean coastal regions of Belize, Guatamala, Nicaragua and on the islands of Honduras and Roatán.  A people clutching to their language and customs in a concerted effort to save their culture, they are ethnically descended from West Africans and native Caribs, with a history of slavery, subordination and exile to match.  This record is part of the effort to bring the unique Garifuna culture to the world and, through the sensitive hands of Garifuna cultural ambassador Andy Palacio and producer Ivan Duran, the listener is presented with an utter gem: understated and dignified, the album one hopes for all year.

Palacio leads the musicians on Wátina, a collective of young and old musicians from this endangered tradition.  Recorded in a thatched buy by the beach, the frist thing to note is the surprisingly rich, contemporary quality of sound.  After that, the entire album is a feast of musical treasures.  The links with West African music are plain: if you like Habib Koité, you’ll immediately fall in love with this record for Palacio’s voice and guitar style.  But there are plenty of other elements too which reflect the cultural make-up of the Garifuna people: the clavés, the gently swinging rhythms, the Caribbean harmonies.

I could talk about every song.  Each one tells a tale, sings of the everyday in the Garifuna past, present, or uncertain future: another link with an African musical legacy.  On “Ayó Da,” 75-year-old Paul Nabor recounts the song he wrote over 60 years ago as a means of breaking the devastating news to his friend’s family that their son had just been lost on a fishing trip, possibly in a crocodile attack.  The closing track “Amuñegü” is Palacio’s personal lamentation for the loss of his culture and a plea to his fellow Garifuna to fight for the survival of their unique heritage.

There is an honest simplicity, and integrity to the songs on this album, and I think therein lies the beauty.  There is no pretentiousness or showmanship: the melodies and rhythms speak for themselves.  For me, this is one of the rare albums capable of transporting the listener to another place and permanently placing itself inside head and heart as it goes.