Laud Belize Music!
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Modern Belize music reflects a mixed culture of peoples who were either brought over as slaves or drawn over to tap into the mahogany trade in the early 18th century.
We do not know the musical heritage of Belize before this era because there are no known records of it.
African slaves contributed to the adopted style by continuing their drumming traditions in the camps, which colonial authorities tried to stamp out but failed.
Creole Music - Brukdown and Boom and Chime
Through the night you could hear the rhythm of boom and chime over the tree tops. This music is coming from the mahogany timber camps. The men are dancing, drinking and having a good time till the wee hours of the morning. Sometimes they play brukdown, depending on the mood. Playing accordion, banjo, drums, and guitar, anything that can produce a sound can join in the rhythm. This is Belizean rural folk music at it`s best which has carried through to this day.
Tribute to the Late King of Brukdown Mr Peters On 9th June, at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, the King of Brukdown died aged 79 after illness took hold. Following a state funeral, he was laid to rest on the 14th June at Lord’s Ridge Cemetery. |
Mr. Wilfred Peters was a well known brukdown music master in Belize, especially for his boom and chime style music. Leading with his accordion he sang Creole lyrics in a backdrop of old Belizean life and culture. The music originated in the timber camps. A mixture of call and response, using creole lyrics.
I just love this style of Belize music. Once you hear it you imagine you are back in the heart of the country. I particularly like the new release - Mr Peter`s Brukdown Reloaded. It`s a compilation of his earlier songs. Songs which stand the test of time, because they are rooted in the old lifestyle of the Belizean people. And to my surprise and delight, my cousin Martha Weatherburn, adds a little bit of flavour to "Gal Go Home".
Garifuna also continued their cultural musical traditions, and later Punta rock was born from this form of music.
Garifuna and Punta Rock
Punta rock is the baby of Belize music. It was born from the union of lyrics and electric guitar to the Punta rhythms of Garifuna drum beats. If you are a fan of this music the name Delvin "Pen" Cayetano will be familiar to you. He is attributed to the creation of Punta rock back in the 1970`s. In Mi Country was one his albums I happened to buy back in 1996 when I was on my first visit to Belize. Pen Cayetano is also a painter and it was the sale of his paintings that helped set him up with his first gigs.
Some famous Punta rock artist who come to mind are also, Bella Carib who`s hit single "Bald Head Man" hit the top of the charts in 1991 and stayed there for a few weeks. Mohobub Flores who was blazed the trail with Punta rock when he was with the Turtle Shell Band, before he went solo. Chico Ramos, drummer and song writer from Dangriga in Stann Creek who became famous around the world with his hit single Sopa de Caracol (Conch Soup).
Belize Music Marimba - Mestizo and Mayan
Marimba is a dominant music in the West and North of Belize, but especially the West in the Orange walk and San Ignacio areas, where there are large communities of Mestizos and Mayan.
A particular band named the Alma Belicena from San Jose Succotz play up and down the country at weddings, dances, and festivals. But sadly the Marimba players in Belize are in their late years and there are not many musicians taking their place.
The music is mainly a mixture of Spanish recreational and Maya ceremonial origins although other cultural influences helped to form it
.The marimba instrument is like a wooden xylophone which evidence would suggest came originally from West Africa. "Marimba" is in fact a West African Bantu word.
The Mayan people still make their own marimbas from hard woods found in Belize. The also use horns made of conch shells, whistles, flutes and ocarinas made of wood or bone, rattles, drums and other percussion instruments, along with stringed instruments, like the Spanish guitar, and home-made harps made of hard woods and stringed using nylon fishing line.
The Mayan music is used mainly for religious purposes, but their is evidence of recreational use. It consists of sounds mimicking nature, resembling the noises of creatures in the jungle; tree frogs, bird calls, grass crickets, and resonate tapping sounds.
It was fun listening to the Belize Music, but time to go Home...
