Home > MUSIC > Umalali: The Garifuna Women's Project

• Tweet
• Outlook
• ICAL
• PRINT
• Email
• Feedback

• RSS

• Official Website
• Buy Tickets

Umalali: The Garifuna Women's Project

Presented by Crossroads Music at Crossroads Music

May 4, 2011

Avg. Event Rating (5.0 Stars):
| Read Reviews/Comments

Comment on Facebook

Umalali, the Garifuna word for “voice,” is a musical ensemble that gives extraordinary testimony to the resilience of a unique culture and particularly its women. Many have heard how Africans brought to the New World in 1635 to be sold into slavery were shipwrecked off the coast of St Vincent in the eastern Caribbean. These Africans were absorbed into the indigenous Carib population, and in the process created a unique culture all their own. Fast forward to 1997. A young record producer in Belize observed that in the Garifuna community, it was the women who carried on the teaching of the language, the women who knew more songs than the men, and the women who wrote more songs than the men. Along with his musical companion the late Andy Palacio, record producer Ivan Duran determined to seek out and record the best female singers they could find. The result is Umalali, a moving and inspirational album that pays tribute to the rich heritage carried in the voices of Garifuna women. Their powerful voices and call-and-response format draw the listener in, soon to be captivated by the engaging rhythms and wonderful sounds of the Garifuna language.