The Garifuna Collective
The Garifuna Collective
This event occurred as part of the 23/24 Hop Presents season. This is an archived view.
With traditional rhythms and new melodies, the band redefines Garifuna music for a new generation.
23/24 Hop PresentsThe multi-generational collective made it its mission to bring to the world Garifuna's soulful and vibrant music—a unique genre originating from the Garifuna people of the Caribbean and Central America, characterized by lively rhythms, call-and-response vocals, traditional instruments like the drum and maracas and storytelling lyrics that preserve their cultural heritage and history.
At the Hop, they perform hits from their latest album ABAN (which means "One" in the Garifuna language), reflecting the spirit of unity and self-sufficiency that has kept this Afro-Indigenous people, language and culture alive and fighting for over 300 years.
ABAN reflects the band members' deep bond—after over 20 years of making music together—and bears the fruit of their experimentation with new Garifuna rhythms, concepts and techniques. The album brings different traditional rhythms to the forefront, such as Wanaragua and the semi-sacred Hüngü-Hüngü, and creatively juxtaposes them with new melodies from the deep well of Garifuna song. The results are fresh and adventurous.
Generously supported by the Jack & Dorothy Byrne Foundation.
Come to the Dartmouth Green at 4:30 pm to learn some traditional dance moves from members of The Garifuna Collective.
The Garifuna Collective has performed in over 30 countries in five continents and have been part of the most celebrated Garifuna albums of all time, including the critically acclaimed Wátina, recipient of the Womex and BBC World Music Award and voted by Amazon as the Number One World Music Album of All Time.
They are a seasoned collective of musicians from across different generations, with a dynamic that comes from playing and traveling the world together, sharing their music and stories with global audiences. Their performances spark the history and soul of Garifuna culture into vivid life. While their recordings dip into the massive well of Garifuna songs to create new compositions—some of the singers in the band know hundreds of songs!
The group has maintained its strength despite incredible adversity but the history of the Garifuna people is one of struggle. The Collective take their place in a long line of ancestors, maintaining and growing the Garifuna cultural identity, in a conversation between generations and traditions.
“Full of surging seaside rhythms and yearning, soulful melodies that hang in the memory.”
BBC Music
“This troupe of extraordinary singers have fashioned a unique and wonderful world; once you enter, you will never want to leave.”
The Guardian
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