Beach Bar Playlist – Tuesday Tunes
Tagged: beach bar playlist, belize, danny michel, garifuna collective
Today’s “Tuesday Tunes” selection for my beach bar playlist comes from singer/songwriter Danny Michel and his collaboration LP, Blackbirds Are Dancing Over Me, with Belizean group The Garifuna Collective. The sound of the Collective’s West African heritage is evident and plays the perfect complement to Michel’s vocals, which resemble a slightly raspier version of David Gray. From his record label’s site: “Danny’s new album, his 10th, Black Birds Are Dancing Over Me, dives into the waves of Belize’s musical deep, featuring Maya guitar, turtle shells, donkey jaw-bone, and traditional Garifuna segunda & primero drums. The album cultivates lush rhythms and sounds, the perfect backdrop for Michel’s eloquently buoyant songwriting style. To make the record, Danny relocated from the Golden Horseshoe to the the foot of the Xunantunich mayan ruins in Benque Viejo del Carmen. There, he teamed up with members of the Garifuna Collective, The Benque Players, and pioneering producer Ivan Duran at Stonetree Records, a label/studio that has been instrumental in bringing the Belizean sound to the world.”
Two of my favorite songs from the record are “What Colour Are You” and “Just the Way I Am.” Enjoy!
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