All across the country, the reaction to the death of this most loved music man has been overwhelming. And just so across the world. Ivan Duran is the man who worked most closely with Andy over 6 years to produce Watina. He arrived in the country today and told us that internationally - the response to his passing has been overwhelming.
Ivan Duran, Stone Tree Records
“It is such a great loss not only for Belize but for the world. Andy touched so many people, throughout his life, but also especially last year which was his biggest year where he toured many countries and met many new friends and artists, and festival organizers and journalists, and radio personalities. And by reading the hundreds of emails that have been coming in since Andy’s passing, it is really really amazing the amount of love that Andy had felt throughout the year.
I think Andy will be remembered as a great world music artist, that’s for sure, and everybody right now is mourning his loss. Not only in Belize but tonight there is a tribute to him on Radio France International, the BBC as well, cities around the U.S. - Chicago to New York to L.A. We’re getting the play list of DJs who loved Andy’s music, who will be playing Watina tonight.
We’re getting words from journalists all over the globe that want to write obituaries about Andy. Some of them are major newspapers. Today the
New York Times, which is pretty significant, Limon in Paris is doing the same thing, the UK Guardian, the UK Telegraph is doing the same thing. So I think this will take time to sink in but I am very very happy that Andy’s legacy will live on forever. There is no doubt about it.”
Jules Vasquez,
You were on the 2007 world tour and you have an idea of what he has done and how difficult it is to do in the international context. How much of that was made possible by the personality, the extreme sophistication, literal-ness, the ability of Andy to be a front man for a band while also being a diplomat?
Ivan Duran,
“The bottom line is that Andy was a gentle good man. Andy is somebody that judging from all the people who’ve met him, they really liked him as a person as much as a artist. But Andy had that capacity to connect with people on a personal level. It will be only with time when we would be able to organize all his ideas, of Andy’s greatness. But today we’re mourning the loss of a friend first of all, the loss of a beautiful beautiful person, and then comes the music part, that Andy is totally irreplaceable in Belizean music and I will even say in Central American music - Andy was an icon and now he leaves a huge huge hole.”
And to mourn his passing and celebrate his life, the schedule is as follows. On Friday morning, there will be a remembrance service at the Bliss Center; and then on Friday evening from 5 to 9:00 p.m., there will be a concert in his honour. And then on Saturday, there will be an official funeral in his home village of Barranco. And later on we’ll have more Andy Palacio as we take you back to the launching of his Watina CD in Belize.
