|
|
 |
Album Review
|
| Click Here to go back. |
Rhapsody, Album Review >>
Descendants of Africans who escaped slave ships and built communities with the local Arawakan population along the Caribbean coast of Central America, Garifuna musicians are heirs to one of the world's most distinctive and resilient cultures. So it only makes sense that the musics they play represent some of the globe's most joyous yet politically critical, unique yet inherently diasporic, prolifically traditional yet hybrid, adaptive and inventive: the percussive religious music, the acoustic guitar-driven paranda, the various permutations of the punta rock genre created by the late great savior of Garifuna music, Andy Palacio.
Most recently is the exciting and game-changing new album from Honduras' Aurelio Martinez. Martinez already had quite a pedigree: A respected master of Garifuna traditions in his own right (not to mention a politician who was the first person of African descent to be elected to the Honduran National Congress), he was also the heir to Andy Palacio's throne and the chosen mentee of Youssou N'Dour. His debut album, Garifuna Soul, was released on Garifuna treasure chest Stonetree Records and widely acclaimed in global music circles. And then, for his next trick, he released his latest album, Laru Beya, as the second-ever album to be released on Next Ambiance, the world music imprint of respected indie label Sub Pop that the world of world music has been watching with keen interest. And what an eyeful -- or, rather, earful -- Martinez and Next Ambiance have given us. Densely layered, impeccably produced and swirling with globe-crossing currents of unexpected sound, Laru Beya is a sonic evolution (or perhaps revolution) that is steeped in the hybridized, resilient, powerfully distinctive Garifuna tradition.
Take a listen to our Garifuna Rocks! playlist, which situates Martinez's album within the rich and fascinating history of Garifuna music, from traditional, drum-driven chants to Garifuna rap -- and everything in between -- paying special tribute to the legacies of Martinez and Andy Palacio, who we lost in 2008.
01/20/11 >> go there
|
| Click Here to go back. |
|
 |
|
|
|
