What does 100 years of music look like in Belize? NICH, in collaboration with BTB, MOE and others have captured and collected the history of music throughout the decades, along with a number of artifacts, recordings and performances that form a kind of Belizean songbook - and it's one that makes you dance!
Today they launched the Belize Music Project, an attempt at preserving our musical heritage for many more generations to come. Jules Vasquez was there:
The legendary DJ Morgan spinning CES records at the entrance to the Government house set the tone perfectly for the Launch of the Belize Music Project.
Inside stood sacred guitars seeping soul and bearing signatures of musical saints. While reel to reel tapes recorded 5 decades ago sounded fresh and vibrant.
And a curated collection of objects set the tone for a project that explores a neglected musical past to map out the future:
Ivan Duran, Director - Bze Music Project
"And as crazy as it might sound, this project truly is about the future. Yes, we'll be talking about 1920s, 1940s. But truly, this is what the next 100 years will feel like or what we want the next hundred years to be like when it relates to music in Belize."
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Culture
"The Belize Music Project. The aims are clear to document and celebrate the diverse musical history of Belize. And by doing this, we believe it will cultivate an attitude, an environment, an atmosphere of connecting our younger generations with their cultural and musical roots."
They didn't have to work too hard to convince these folks: a room full of musicians - including legends.
Ivan Duran, Director - Bze Music Project
"In my wildest dreams. I would have thought to have the last surviving members of the professionals here today. I feel like crying when I see you here."
And with a moving video retrospective that covered just about 100 years of Belizean music, every head had to nod, the musical connection was undeniable.
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Culture
"The mahogany camp chants. The logwood camp chants, that thing just stirs your soul. Amazing. Amazing. That story has to be told."
Indeed, Belize's book of music is long and storied - contained in cassette tapes, vinyl record, CD's and reel to reels - and this project plans to make a compendium of it all:
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Culture
"Belize Music Project focuses on preserving Belize's rich musical heritage while fostering innovative expressions that bridge past traditions with future artistic endeavors. Instilling cultural pride and identity. It involves comprehensive research, including interviews and historical recordings to create the narrative of Belize's musical journey, culminating in a multi-format music box set titled 100 years of Music in Belize,"
Gina Scott, Music. Teacher
"This is a time for a massive reclamation of our Belizean musical heritage to fill the gaps, to revise the narratives. Because the deeper we look, the more we realize, "oh, wasn't quite the way we thought it was."
"Let's create new narratives where there were none. And most of us, let's give voice and honor to those who came before us. We are the beneficiaries of their legacy, whether we realize it or not."
And, indeed it is about more than a product, Duran says, perhaps dreamily, that reclamation of the past is for a new foundation:
Ivan Duran, Director - Bze Music Project
"We need to make a call to every artist, every producer, or every child that wants to make music in this country, to really let them know that we will be there for them, to support them and to nurture their interest, wherever it may lead them."
"We will get to that point where we will have a solid foundation for them to think that it's not a crazy thing to be an artist in Belize. That it is a losing proposition to be a musician in this country. Because Belize had a vibrant past. We're just scratching the surface!"
Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism
"Why can't we have the next Bob? Why can't we have the next Rihanna? Why can't we have the next Machel Montano, or whoever it is? We have talented people here."
Gina Scott, Music Teacher
"Let us stop using the "T" word. Maybe give it a ten-year holiday. "Talented". Let's get down to do the work because everyone has potential."
"So everyone has potential. Let's give everyone an exposure to a proven set of procedures, a.k.a. training, classes whatever you want to call It. Let's pursue the practice, because in the end, we can have performances and a product. There really is no magic."
Sobering words, but if not magic there is something ineffable in these recordings, call it nostalgia but these are more than vintage, they're classic and the recognition of this is a much-deserved affirmation for these virtuosos andlegends:
Antonio Acosta, Retired Drummer, Professionals Band
"I thought it was something great. Yeah, I am really proud of Mr Duran and the rest of guys that got it together."
Reporter
"So what do you think of the exhibition? Are you satisfied with the way it came out?"
Antonio Acosta, Retired Drummer, Professionals Band
"Oh yes 100%. Girl it is something nice so they could meet the past and present musicians and continue the music in Belize because I came from a music family, my father was Chicen Acosta so I grew up in it . So its nice I like what they are doing."
Benjamin Mckoy, Former lead singer, Professionals Band
"It was a very very encouraging for me especially considering we have to pass on what we have learned and practiced to the younger musicians."
The project will include the creation of an interactive music museum at the Government House. No total budget was declared but it is in the six figure range.
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