Tony Wright releases compendium of Belize Musicians, past and present

Tony Wright is perhaps best known as president of the Association for Belizean Artists First and host of the popular radio show “Belize Musicians Past and Present”. But he was once a musician himself, and he has led the fight to recognize and promote Belizean artists for some time. This morning, under the auspices of the association and Image Factory, he released a book that offers short biographies and mentions of a who’s who of Belizean musicians, in a trip through our musical history. Wright tells us more about the book, aptly titled “Belize Musicians Past and Present.”

Tony Wright, President, Association for Belizean Artists First

Tony Wright

“We have a lot of artists – somebody talk about Nelson Diamond just now; we have his name in here, but I just recently received, actually, a picture of Nelson Diamond. This is just, you da say, book one – mek wi put it like that, because we had a lot, a lot of Belizean artists that we couldn’t fit in, because a, like a say, financial strap and what not, you know? So we had to use what we had; actually the Association for Belizean Artists First da di sponsor behind this book.”

Wright collaborated with Yasser Musa of the Image Factory Art Foundation to compile and produce the book, while Angelus Press did the printing. Amandala publisher and long-time friend and employer of Wright, Evan X Hyde, contributed a short introduction. The book is on sale for fifteen dollars.