Wátina

Performer: Andy Palacio & the Garifuna Collective
Producer: Ivan Duran
Distributor: E1 Distribution (USA)

Notes: The Belize musician Andy Palacio belongs to the Garifuna society, a mix of West African and indigenous Caribbean cultures that once flourished along the Caribbean coast of Central America. Irresistibly danceable yet musically subtle, this collection, which features Garifuna musicians from Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras, seeks to keep the culture's musical traditions alive in a set with each song sung in Garifuna to traditional rhythms. The native music of Belize is strangely hard to come by considering the proximity of the small Central American nation to the United States and the ready availability of music from other neighboring countries. Andy Palacio is perhaps the best known of the lot who has created some buzz outside of the region, and Watina is by far his highest-profile release yet. It's well worth investigating. Palacio is Garifuna, a Caribbean ethnic group that traces its ancestry back to the West African slaves who settled in the Caribbean during the 17th century. Emerging in the '90s, Palacio was at first affiliated with a Caribbean dance music movement called punta rock, but after an encounter with an elder in a Nicaraguan Garifuna enclave, he turned his attentions to the more acoustic, organic traditional Garifuna music displayed on Watina. It's a stirring, sweet, emotional sound, identifiably Caribbean -- a touch of soca, a dab of reggae, a hint of Cuban -- but equally African in nature in its rhythmic and melodic structure. Palacio sings gruffly in the native Garifuna language, which means that most will never understand the lyrics, many of which address the Garifuna life and the quickening disappearance of that very culture. But no matter, the music succeeds on its own terms, modern in its production and polyrhythms, yet unmistakably tied to local heritage. ~ Jeff Tamarkin

Down Beat (p.75) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Ivan Duran's production keeps things spare and direct....The aching ballads hit hardest." Dirty Linen (p.50) - "The album, which was recorded in a rustic thatch shack on the beach, is a seamless fusion of musical elements that evoke styles from Cuba, Brazil, and Cape Verde while remaining distinctly original."

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