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Concert Preview
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New City Chicago, Concert Preview >>
-by Dennis Polkow
According to the liner notes on his debut U.S. release "Wátina" (Cumbancha), The Garifunas—once called "Black Caribs" by Europeans who traveled to the Caribbean—are descendants of former slaves who were shipwrecked near island of St. Vincent during the seventeenth century and ultimately mixed with the local indigenous tribes who welcomed them, and that led to the creation of a unique hybrid culture that blended elements of the locals with the African culture of the newcomers. Sadly, their language, music and culture has been threatened by extinction due to wars and forced exiles—many of them were expelled from St. Vincent after being defeated by the British, and today there are roughly a quarter million of them throughout the Americas. Andy Palacio was born and raised in Barranco, Belize, where he spoke the Garifuna language and was around its music and culture. On a visit to Nicaragua, he realized how his heritage might be threatened through a chance encounter with an elderly man—one of the last in the country—who knew the language. Once aware of the risk that his culture faced, he set out to promote his peoples’ culture and to encourage future generations to take pride on their long heritage. With the collaboration of Belizean musician and producer Ivan Duran, Palacio and others set out to create the music that would end up on the disc—the songs, mostly with Palacio on lead vocals, have strong African and Latin influences, but they also look into the future, inserting contemporary sounds along with their acoustic instruments. 06/22/07 >> go there
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