The Belize International Music and Food Fest is only days away, and if you haven't gotten your ticket yet, there's still time. But no matter which international headliner you're most excited to see, you'll also have the opportunity to listen to dozens of Belizean artists as well.
But, this year, they are doing it differently. The Belize Music Project, spearheaded by Ivan Duran has put together four combos to capture the essence of the Belizean sound across multiple genres.
It's groups of musicians, young and old, playing Brukdong, Paranda, Punta rock, Latin from the Belizean songbook.
And today, our news team got a preview. Courtney Menzies has that story.
This is only a preview of what those attending the Belize International Music and Food Fest will be able to hear. BTB has partnered with the Belize Music Project, and this year, they're introducing four Belizean genres to the lineup: the Brukdong Roots Combo, the Paranda Soul Combo, the Latin Explosion Combo, and the Punta Rock Legends Combo.
But with Headliners such as Prince Royce and Shenseea, how do these genres "match the vibe"? The Director of Industry Development at BTB explained that the transition will be seamless.
Josue Carballo, Director, Industry Development, BTB
"Belize is, we're blessed to be so varied in types of music. So we have tried different things in our first two editions."
"These editions in particular we went a bit more cultural in trying to find the essence of particular ethnic music and popular music currently. So they fit very well, like for example, you're talking about Saturday night, starting off a little bit more calm, relaxing with a little reggae."
"So when you talk about Paranda, it fits into that nice soul vibe. And likewise with the brukdong music then going into the Caribbean urban field that will be showcased on Saturday. On Sunday, it's going to be a dance, you know, very, very festive with soca and bachata music."
"So our two Belizean bands are going to fit perfectly there because they're going to have a lot of Punta Rock music. So that's the dance music, you know, we're used to. And also the Latin explosion that will then basically add a little introduction to Prince Royce."
And for Al Ovando and Ivan Duran, who are launching the Belize Music Project, they're hoping this partnership not only bridges the gap between older and modern music and musicians, but also helps to preserve and document this part of Belizean culture.
Al Obvando, Belize Music Project
"With the Belize Music Project, it's a research and history initiative. And the main objective is to document the history of music in Belize and based on the records in the archives."
"It shows that we have music based from the 1920s is the earliest existence of music in the archive, Belize archives. So we're using that and we're using that coming up to now and we use that especially with the Brukdong roots combo we're exploring all these sounds, all these harmonies, these melodies that we find and we are incorporating it with these new people, these new energies we have around and we're trying to make it one new sound at the same time celebrating the past and all this work that happened before."
And Duran spoke more about what the Paranda Soul Combo will look and sound like:
Ivan Duran, Director, Belize Music Project
"The concept behind the Paranda Soul Combo is to bridge, bring together three generations of Garifuna Paranda musicians into one group and so very interesting line up because we have two sons of Junior Aranda, one of our greatest Paranderos, he's going to sing one of his dad songs, Newani here is the Belizean son of Aurelio Martinez, also one of the greatest Paranderos of his generation and he's also following in his footsteps along with two amazing female singers Desiree Diego and Marcela Aranda, sorry, three, and Heidi Arzu. So basically the set list for the Paranda Soul Combo will be a journey through the history of Paranda music, going back probably 70, 80 years, perhaps the oldest song, to some of the most recent compositions and yes, it's exciting."
Newani Martinez, Guitar Player/Vocalist, Paranda Soul Combo
"I always saw myself, you know, being amongst the greats one day but this is just a start for me, you know, one of the biggest stages in our country so it's a great way to leverage myself and gain experience through the legends we have on stage as well as the current artists as well so it's going to be great to be there and experience that."
"Being young in this, you know, me and Diane, we're here learning more about our culture as well as representing, so it's good for us because, you know, there's a lot of young kids in our culture that don't want to express and be a part of their culture. So this is going to show them that, you know I'm a Garifuna I can do big things too, so it's just gonna help us as the younger generation to be confident in who we are as Garifuna people and continue to build that legacy as well."
And for the Brukdong Roots Combo, the lineup includes two women vocalists who say that this project is an important way to keep this genre at the forefront.
Barbara "MissyB" Herrera, Lead Vocals, Brukdong Roots Combo
"It is a new project you know, and I'm being with the musicians, structuring basically old Brukdong music into something new that everybody can relate to."
"It's pretty exciting you know, and I'm waiting to see what it has to bring, you know, it has more new experiences to bring to Brukdong music, so. I'm excited to see where this goes."
Crysel Gabourel Moro, Singer/Choreographer, Brukdong Roots Combo
"For myself, I'm an activist when it comes to Creole music. I've been teaching dance for about 11 to 12 years, and I've been dancing since the age of five with Belize National Dance Company, and so it's always been rooted in me, the Creole culture, and I always advocate for teaching the younger children some of the songs, the chants and things like that, and now to actually be a part of the revolution where we tie in their type of music with our baseline music is really to grab them and bring them back to the culture because we don't want to get lost in the process."
"So that's where it comes from, from the kids all the way up, and then that's how we keep the traditions going."
The festival begins on Saturday with the mega concert, and then on Sunday you'll be able to enjoy the day party.
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