Music of Belize

Belize is a small country in Central America, and its culture is a mix of Mestizo, Maya, British and African influences. After many centuries of Maya habitation, Spanish and then British colonizers arrived in the area, the latter keeping Belize as its only colony in Spanish-dominated Central America. Far more influentially than either European power's arrival, however, was the importation of African slaves.

European and African influences

Europeans brought polkas, waltzes, schottisches and quadrilles, while Africans brought numerous instruments and percussion-based musics, including marimba. African culture resulted in the creation of brukdown music in interior logging camps, played using banjo, guitar, drums, dingaling bell, accordion and an ass's jawbone played by running a stick up and down the teeth.

Mestizo music

Mestizo culture in north and west Belize, and also Guatemala, is characterised by marimba, a xylophone-like instrument descended from an African instrument. Marimba bands use trap drums, double bass and sometimes other instruments. Famous performers include Alma Belicena and the Los Angeles Marimba Band.

Brukdown

Main article: Brukdown Brukdown is a very popular modern style of Belizean music. It evolved out of the music and dance of loggers, especially a form called buru. Buru was often satirical in nature, and eventually grew more urban, accompanied by a donkey's jawbone, drums and a banjo. The word brukdown may come from broken down calypso, referring to the similarities between brukdown and Trinidadian calypso music; the presence of large numbers of Jamaicans in Belize also led to an influence from mento music.

In modern forms, new instruments have been added to brukdown. The "boom and chime groups" use bass guitar, electric guitar and congas, for example. Popular brukdown groups include The Tigers, The Mahogany Chips, Mimi Female Duet and Brad Pattico [1]. Brukdown remains a rural, rarely recorded genre. marleny

Garifuna music

Main article: Garifuna music

The Garifuna are descended from escaped Nigerian slaves and Island Caribs who were deported from St. Vincent to Central America (especially Honduras and also Belize) in 1802) by the British when they conquered St. Vincent. The Garifunas kept themselves apart from the social system then dominant, leading to a distinctive culture that developed throughout the 20th century.

Forms of Garifuna folk music and dance include chumba and hunguhungu, a circular dance in a three beat rhythm, which is often combined with punta. There are other songs typical to each gender, women having eremwu eu and abaimajani, rhythmic a cappella songs, and laremuna wadauman, men's work songs. Other forms of dance music include matamuerte, gunchei, charikawi and sambai.

In contemporary Belize there has been a resurgance of Garifuna music, popularized by musicians such as Andy Palacio, Mohobub Flores, & Adrian Martinez. These musicians have taken many aspects from traditional Garifuna music forms and fused them with more modern sounds. Described as a mixture of punta rock and paranda. One great example is Andy Palacio's album "Watina," released on the Belizean record label "Stone Tree Records."

Modern music

Belize's musical base has expanded considerably in recent years with the addition of local reggae, hip-hop and jazz stars. Belize counts among its local reggae stars Dan Marcus I and Dan Man, as well as other groups such as Belizean Entertainment Official Site; various hip-hop groups often open for more accomplished international stars at local concerts, and there has even been a jazz revival, with an annual jazz festival and at least three popular jazz music programs on local radio.

This surge in local music can be attributed in some ways to the international popularity of such television stations as BET and MTV , which present hip-hop as something to aspire to and admire. In addition, there has been a concerted effort to promote local music among the Belizean population, who have almost never been trained to favor their own music above others.

References

• Graham, Ronnie. "Drum'n'Flute Legacies". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 325-331. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
• [2]

External links

• Belize Music Blog - Contains news, articles and updates about belizean music and artists

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