Punta Rock and Paranda: A Guide to Garifuna Music

Words by Kieran Meadows

Photo: Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Today is Garifuna Settlement Day, one of the biggest national holidays celebrated in Belize. November 19 marks the day in 1802 when the first group of Garifuna, or Garinagu, people arrived in the Central American nation. The Garifuna, descended from mixed African and indigenous Caribbean peoples, have one of the most unique and complex histories of any group in the region.

Garifuna culture flourished on the island of St. Vincent until the late 1700s when the British killed many and forced the rest into exile along the Caribbean coast of Central America, where numerous settlements remain today. In the face of wars, death and forced migrations, the Garifuna still carried with them a rich culture of language, music, dance and tradition that has been passed down through generations.

The story of the Garifuna people goes back centuries, and two alternative genesis narratives exist. As the common story goes, two Spanish ships carrying African slaves shipwrecked in 1635 just off the coast of St. Vincent. Those who survived swam to shore and sought refuge with the inhabitants of the island, the indigenous Carib and Arawak people.

The other narrative begins earlier, with Africans present in the Caribbean in the pre-Columbus era, as early as the 1300s (or perhaps earlier), with the explorer Abu Bakari leading trading ships to the Greater and Lesser Antilles. The key distinction is that these Africans were not enslaved; rather, they sailed and explored the so-called New World by their own volition. Historians Leo Wiener, in his book Africa and The Discovery of America, and Ivan Van Sertima, in his book African Presence in Early America, both point out that standard versions were likely written by British historians who would not want to acknowledge the presence of Africans in the western hemisphere prior to Columbus.

What is agreed upon though, is that over time, the two groups—Africans and the indigenous Caribs and Arawaks—intermixed and eventually fused into what became known as the Black Caribs, or Garifuna people. Despite years of war between the British, French and locals themselves, by the late 18th century, Garifuna was the dominant culture on St. Vincent (known as Yuramein in Arawakan/Cariban language). However, in 1797, they were exiled by the British before making their way Caribbean coast of Honduras, Belize, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

For many in the Garifuna community and diaspora, the second narrative sounds more accurate. “The Garifuna people are the only black race here in this New World who were never enslaved,” says James Lovell, a Garifuna musician, singer and educator living in Brooklyn. “That is something to be proud of, something you can sing about, you can make a poem about, you can rap about, that you can do practically anything about,” he continues. “You need to know your history so that when you go and represent your culture, you will be able to talk about it in an insightful way.”

Lovell, who was born in Belize, is one of thousands of Garifuna expats who live in the United States. While there are communities in many states, the largest populations are in New York City (especially the Bronx and Brooklyn), Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami and Boston. The migrations from Central America have occurred every decade since the 1950s.

Continue reading here.

A painting of Pen Cayetano and the original Turtle Shell Band

There is a thriving music scene that saw a revival in the late ’90s, mostly consisting of Garifuna artists performing around the country for other members of the community, says Pablo Blanco, a Bronx-based Garifuna DJ and promoter. “We’re trying to change that and get more exposure outside of our own community,” he says.

To celebrate Garifuna Settlement Day, Blanco’s management company, Elite Carib International, is promoting a show on Nov. 29 at Silvana in Harlem that will feature James Lovell. The concert will take on extra special significance in commemorating the life of Paul Nabor, a legendary Garifuna musician, born in Punta Gorda, Belize, who passed away in mid-October. Nabor is often credited with popularizing Paranda, a genre of traditional Garifuna music.

Paranda is one of the two most popular genres of Garifuna music. It is a folk style usually consisting of acoustic guitar and drums and percussion, along with call-and-response singing. It is very melodic and emphasizes musicianship and lyrical delivery, often with social commentary.

Punta is the other popular genre. Punta is a festive uptempo dance music and style, with some similarities to Soca music. The Garoun drum (or the primera) leads the rhythm and the segunda, or bass drum, keeps the tempo. The dance style is all about the waistline, which follows naturally from its roots as a fertility and courtship dance.

An offshoot of Punta is Punta Rock music, which is a contemporary Garifuna genre that uses turtle shells as percussion instruments to provide the backing rhythm. It also takes some elements from other genres around the Caribbean. Credit for its creation is often given to Pen Cayetano, who developed the sound in Belize in the late 1970s with his Turtle Shell Band. (As far back as the 1960s though, there were groups that incorporated electrified instruments into the arrangement of Garifuna music, such as the Honduran Punta groups Los Aladinos and Black Sunday.)

Another traditional genre is called Hungu-Hungu, which is a more spiritual music played with drums. It is very slow, solemn and is polyrhythmic, or in compound time of 6/8. Another genre is called Wanaragua (literally meaning “mask”) and is a warrior dance, which is more commonly known as Jankunu.

If you’re in the NYC-area, we highly suggest you grab tickets to the Nov. 29 show, which will showcase all of the genres above.

Until then, LargeUp asked Lovell and Blanco to name a handful of must-know Garifuna artists and songs. Click through the selections over the following pages in order to get more familiar with this special Caribbean music and culture.

Andy Palacio was a Garifuna musician and activist born in Belize. He has been credited for spearheading the revival of Garifuna music in the 1990s. His song “Watina” (“I Called Out”) was on his studio album of the same name with the Garifuna Collective released in 2007, shortly before he passed in 2008. The previous year he told NPR: “I decided to use music as a medium for cultural preservation. At least we’d be able to use the language in the songs and keep them alive.”

Paul Nabor, the legendary Garifuna musician, cultural icon and King of the Paranda style, wrote this song “Naguya Nei” (I’m Moving On), which takes on almost a more powerful meaning due to his recent passing on October 22.

And here’s a special live performace of “Naguya Nei” with Andy Palacio in 2007:

Aurelio Martinez is a Garifuna artist who is from Honduras. His album from 2014 is called Lándini, (meaning the place where fishing boats land) and this is the title track.

Another one of his well-known songs is entitled, “Africa.”

One of the most famous Punta songs is the 1991 international hit “Sopa de Caracol” (Conch Soup) by the commercially successful Honduran ensemble, Banda Blanca.

Mohobub Flores, from Dangriga, Belize, is one of Belize’s most popular Punta Rock artists. He sings his song “Gunjei” in English and gets right to the point declaring that he’s a “Carib from St. Vincent.”

Multi-instrumentalist musician, singer and educator James Lovell is passionate about teaching the community’s children the Garifuna language through music so that it is not lost over time. Through his former organization Ellagulei (Roots) and his current company Habinahan Garinagu (Dance Garifuna), he’s been involved in education for almost 20 years. “I’m singing to give my people a voice,” Lovell says. “So they can know there’s pain, unnecessary suffering, human rights violations in my community.”

He also displays a lighter side in this cover of “Lady in Red,” sung in Garifuna—but he changes it to “Wuri Garifuna” (Garifuna Woman).

But the number one thing for him is the importance of education through music—as you can see in this video of Lovell teaching an audience how to sing the children’s song “Are You Sleeping?” in Garifuna at the Endangered Language Alliance.

Along with James Lovell, Rolando “Chi Chi” Sosa is one of the contemporary torchbearers of Garifuna music. “He’s our Quincy Jones,” says Pablo Blanco. Sosa played on Andy Palacio’s last album Watina, and is also credited as one of the arrangers. Here he is performing his song “Beiba” at the New York nightclub S.O.B.’s: