On Monday, Belize Garifuna Collective will set off on yet another European tour.
It's a smaller tour this time for the band which has been everywhere from Poland to Switzerland to the Netherlands. But this time, it's just a catch-up of the gigs missed during Covid.
Still, the band seems pumped for the tour and more than ready to once again flex their musical mojo on the world stage.
They said as much on Monday when they stopped by the Sunup on 7 set to share what they're expecting of the next few weeks. Cherisse Halsall has that story:
The Garifuna Collective is having a gig in the centre of London. It's happening at the World Famous Jazz Cafe on August 4th and every Belizean and friend of Belize with a 1000 mile radius is invited to attend.
Al Ovando, Musician, The Garifuna Collective
"This is the Jazz cafe, this is one of the most famous clubs in Camden London, Camden area and some of the biggest acts have passed through this Jazz cafe."
"This Jazz Cafe event is different from a festival, this is like your own gig, so we have a promotional team and people promoting this event. So it's like ground work up. This is not like a festival where with or without you they will have a million people, this is like your own show and we have to prove to this presenter at this festival that we could bring the 250 people they need. So even the British High Commission from Belize they are helping us reaching out to the diaspora and we are trying our own tactics to get people to come out. We have a good team of people trying to promote this event."
And filling that type of venue will be a milestone for an emerging international act like the Collective.
Al Ovando, Musician, The Garifuna Collective
"What happened this is the first post-pandemic we went on pause for two years and that really put a whole dent in what we were doing already. It used to be started out with Canada, the U.S. and we've been over 5 continents so far over 35 countries during the time. This time we are starting out with Chek Republic, we're doing Belgium, were going to London. In London, we are doing Peter Gabriel's WOMAD festival in Charlton Park. This is the 40th year for that event and from there we go to France to finish up. Its going to be a fast tight tour that's moving from city to city and coming back. So we leave on the 25th July and we get back on August 12th."
Al and the band say it's all part of the Collectives mission as cultural ambassadors, a mandate left to them by the late great Andy Palacio.
Al Ovando, Musician, The Garifuna Collective
"The whole objective of the band is we are actually ambassadors of what the music the Garifuna music does, we are the curators of what Andy Palacio, Paul Nabor - all the people who are not with us now. This was their work; this was their dream and basically the song that we have that Andy Palacio sings about is who is going to play this music? who is going to hear this music from Garifuna culture to the world and that's what we are doing and so that mission is clear with the Garifuna Collective every time and so we are happy. In this case with these festivals, we are invited by them to go to these festivals. Its not a situation where someone is sending us to this festival, based on the story they hear, what they know about Belize, the culture, the music."
Emilio Thomas, Musician, The Garifuna Collective
"It's sharing with people, one of my best experiences would be being at the schools, because we get to realize how people are not exposed outside of their setting and we have so much to offer in Belize. I can think about the simplest thing to hear with someone from Belize that would change their lives forever and on our last tour that we did in 2019 to end of October. During the pandemic I received a package from one of our agency in the US and I read every single letter that was sent to us from the kids and I shared with the band as well and we got to realize that we changed so many lives during that last tour, because we targeted many of the learning institutions, cultural centers and all of these places and nobody ever told them that we existed until the time that Garifuna Collective landed, so there is always somebody in the world that doesn't know about Belize, doesn't know about our cultures here and we have the opportunity to do that and I also wish that you have other artists in the country who would think about these things what can you do to change someone's life and then you continue that process to bigger audience."
Desiree Diego, Musician, The Garifuna Collective
"Just by opening your mouth to say A-yay or just singing out from within and then you get, you watch the crowd and you could see that they want to know what you're saying and then get involve in it, so the best part of that is like to interact with the crowd and get them moving to what you are doing."
And as exciting as this summer's tour in these gigs are just the COVID leftovers. The real challenge will come next year when the band sets off on a whole new tour.
Al Ovando, Musician, The Garifuna Collective
"Then next year now. We start full and we go big again. We are starting in Australia and New Zealand next year in March and then we do full Canada, U.S. And Europe again."
The Collective is expected to play at a long list of concerts including their own show at the Jazz club, Peter Gabriel's Womad, and many others across Europe.
