Danny Michel with the Garifuna Collective
It’s been a few months since I was last blown away by a new record. There have been some great records, don’t get me wrong, but nothing really sent me scurrying to the bl-g to scream names from my squatty soapbox of musical superiority. Well, I’m back with a new recommendation and it did indeed send me scurrying for the soapbox. While it’s not Paul Simon’s Graceland, the fact that I’m mentioning this record in the same sentence says just about as much as I need about it’s musical pedigree. Belize’s The Garifuna Collective — of the much-heralded Andy Palacio & the Garifuna Collective’s 2007 record Wátina — marched on after the untimely passing of their frontman. Now they’ve teamed with Canadian singer-songwriter Danny Michel (someone I’d never heard before) to create this masterpiece of World Music, albeit World Music grounded in time and space by Michel’s acoustic rhythms. The result is pure reflection, simultaneously joyous and heartbreaking. Listen to the full album from Danny Michel with the Garifuna Collective: Black Birds are Dancing Over Me.
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