The Whole Music Experience

Andy Palacio & The Garifuna Collective Watina Stonetree Records/Cumbancha Only in his 40s, the musician and preserver of Garifuna culture, Andy Palacio died recently of a stroke. It's true musicians have been dropping like flies lately, with so many passing away from pneumonia, strokes, heart attacks and cancer. In the last couple of days, Cape Verdian vocalist Cesaria Evora suffered a stroke, right before she was going to headline at the WOMAD festival in Australia. (She is still alive). While the death of a musician to me is always tragic, Palacio's passing on hit both the global music community and the Garifuna peoples of Belize (and beyond), like a ton of bricks falling out of the sky. In a way, you might say that Palacio's journey into preserving Garifuna culture goes back to 1635 when shipwrecked African slaves liberated themselves and found solace on the Caribbean island, St. Vincent. There the African slaves were welcomed by the Arawak Indians and the...

Photo: Gazpacho Andalu (from Joe's Pub, New York) Gazpacho Andalù Flamenco De Vuelta E Ida Independent Release Juan Manuel Cañizares Suite Iberia (Albeniz por Cañizares) Sony BMG Masterworks Gazpacho reminds me of a scene from Pedro Almodovar's "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," where the most crazed woman of them all splashes a bowl of gazpacho on the lead character. Tomato, garlic and remnants of sleeping pills run down the face of the woman and soak her dress. This is one side of Spain, (over-the-top characters), via the movie business that has shaped my life, along with hearing fiery flamenco guitar and vocals. My ancestral DNA goes on alert and my heart feels energized when I hear sounds of Andalusia. So I am delighted to have received two flamenco recordings recently. The first recording I am going to mention, Flamenco De Vuelta E Ida hails from the New York based, Gazpacho Andalù. This fusion project blends music from North Africa, South...