In September for two nights only of sold out shows Frankie Reneau debuted his composition called We Are Belize. Commissioned by the Prime Minister, it was supposed to capture the spirit of Belize at 25. Now, the live recording is available for all to hear. A box set with a DVD and matching CD have been released. We got a preview when we spoke to pitchman Andy Palacio yesterday.
Jules Vasquez Reporting,
It begins with a sweeping review of Belizean musical styles - in a piece that is called Belizean Fantasy. It is a orchestral composition of some ambition, including steel pan, marimba, and Garifuna drums to flesh out ethnically diverse musical themes. Andy Palacio is NICH's Cultural Ambassador. He says capturing this was a breakthrough moment combining the talents of 100 Belizean singers, performers and players of instruments.
Andy Palacio,
"It embodies a work that could be considered one of the best of Belize and if one reads through the credits, one could see that quite a number of people were involved in the making of this product and it is a tribute to them to have it documented for posterity and for it to find its place into every home library hopefully across the country and for Belizeans in the Diaspora who have this nostalgia for Belizean culture."
And that culture explores new avenues with a powerful barbershop quartet rendition singing about the pains of those dreaded castor oil treatments.
Andy Palacio,
"People who are passionate about Belizean music and about owning a piece of the jewel should insist on owning a copy of this CD/DVD. It is an important piece of work from the standpoint of it being composed, arranged, produced by Belizeans and for its sheer high concentration of talent. So it is a work of art."
Those are the kinds of surprises that appear all across this 120-minute performance concert. Palacio says it is a must have.
13 performances are captured on the DVD and disc. Only two thousand have been issue din this first printing and it should be available widely by the end of this week.
