E-mail: info@f-cat.de | Telefon: +49 (0)30 26 103 29-20 
Tickets
You can get your tickets via the local concert promoter.
See tourdates.
African and Central American Roots
Umalali & The Garifuna Collective
| Guatemala, Honduras, Belize
Booking-Agent:
Amaya Collantes
+49 30 261032927
ac@f-cat.de
“Ivan Duran and his troupe of extraordinary singers have fashioned a unique and wonderful world; once you enter, you will never want to leave.”
Observer Music Monthly, Chalie Gillett, May 2008
“Surley this is how Amy Winehouse wishes she could sound. Amy’s voice is remarkable, but it isn’t hers- it’s borrowed from black Americans. Effortlessly, without artifice, Sofia Blanco, her daughter Silvia and all the other singers let their voices come from deep inside themselves, pinning their melodies to our hearts, connecting us to a time and a place we’ ve never been to but can now imagine.”
Observer Music Monthly, Chalie Gillett, May 2008
“Five years in the works, the Garifuna Women's Project is the brainchild of producer/musician Ivan Duran, a native of Belize. The result is an album full of captivating music, artfully embellished by Duran's studio magic. Garifuna women wrote 10 of its 12 tracks.“
Billboard.com 2008
“Umalali is a companion to Watina, the brilliant and widely acclaimed 2007 release Duran produced for the most famous Garifuna singer, the late Andy Palacio. The band, the Garifuna Collective, is the same. And Duran uses the same creative, tasteful layerings of guitars, additional voices and percussion, and flavors from Afro-Latin, reggae, Afropop and other styles to arrive at superbly well-imagined roots pop.”
REVIEW AFROPOP 2008
“Showcasing three generations of stunning female singers from Honduras, Guatemala and Belize, the Stonetree/Cumbancha release Umalali (the Garifuna word for “voice”) celebrates women as the cohesive force in Garifuna social, cultural, and spiritual life. Not only does the album highlight their vocal artistry, but it reveals them to be captivating storytellers whose poignant, lyrical narratives address the everyday struggle to preserve family, household, community, and the Garifuna way of life in a rapidly globalizing world.”
Global Rhythm by Michael Stone 2008
“Reviewer David Was discussed the fascinating history of the Garifuna people and this monumental recording project which was over ten years in the making. Was compares the emotionally stirring voice of Umalali singer Silvia Blanco with French legend Edith Piaf, and he states Garifuna culture may be be endangered, but the Women's Project creates a legacy that will endure.”
The National Public Radio Program “Day to Day” March 24, 2008
“Though natural composers, these women were not professional musicians, and Duran worked meticulously to fashion pop music from folklore. Silvia Blanco’s “Fuleisei (Favours)” comes out with a racing, flamenco feel, and her “Barübnaa Yagian (Take Me Away)” jaunty, guitar Afropop. Silvia’s 54-year-old mother Sofia Blanco lends her robust voice to a mournful tale of a difficult childbirth on “Yüdünya Weyu (The Sun Has Set),” produced paradoxically as buoyant, paranda party music. Elodia Nolberto’s “Tuguchili Elia (Elia’s Father)” an open letter to a traveling husband, chugs along with the funky, chippy-chop guitar of Garifuna Punta rock. One of the most haunting of these 12 short, distinctive songs is “Anaha Ya (Here I Am),” the lament of a woman facing rumors she has sold her daughter into prostitution. Chila Torres sings an earthy, trenchant lead while guitarist Eduardo “Guayo” lays on blues tinged cross rhythms and traditional Garifuna drums crack out quasi-military rhythms.”
Boston Phoenix, 2008
“The album is superbly presented with sleevenotes that provide informal and personal details about its making, beautiful photos and several videos of its protagonists. None of these women are professional singers. Yet, as Duran confides to Banning Eyre in an interview, their “amazing voices and personalities and stories” carry the day. “I’ve seen an amazing improvement in all of them,” he insists. This has allowed the producer to overcome the cultural and material challenges of bringing these working women into the world music arena and touring circuit. “The best thing that could happen with the Umalali project,” he concludes, “is that it convinces women in the Garifuna community that they can dedicate themselves to music and be rewarded by (it).”
Mondomix.com by Daniel Brown, april 2008
