Carlos Perrote releases “Omolewa Osain”
Carlos Perrote is an accomplished musician, composer and arranger. He has been making music for at least thirty years and for the past ten he has lived in Belize. He has worked as music teacher with NICH and is the current musical director of the Grace Primary School and the Holy Redeemer Marching Band. Today he released his latest CD, entitled Omolewa Osain which took approximately three years to produce because, according to Perrote, time and effort make a huge difference to the end product. And, as one of the many artists inspired by the late Andy Palacio, Perrote’s new album is a tribute to the musician’s “Powerful Mind”. News Five’s Delahnie Bain attended this morning’s launching ceremony and got a sample of the musical fusion.
Delahnie Bain, Reporting
The House of Culture was the ideal venue for the launch of Carlos Perrote’s new release “Omolewa Osain” because the CD is a unique fusion of Jazz, Garifuna music and the West African roots of Cuba. The name, which is derived from the Yoruba religion, translates to “Powerful Mind” and is in honor of the late great Andy Palacio.
Carlos Perrote, Musician
“When I travel with the Garifuna Collective and Andy Palacio, I find the powerful mind of Andy to take the word to the world of Belize. That name came like that so I said powerful mind so Omolewa Osain is the translation for that in Yoruba.”
Gina Scott, Founder/Director, Belize School of Music
“We think of things Garifuna, things jazz, things Yoruba as being totally separate from each other. What this project does is bring everything into one so we have separate styles, separate musicians, separate countries; one main artist and one music.”
Carlos Perrote
“From beginning I like fusion. From small I like put a little bit of coffee with the biscuit and just mix it to see how the thing go. So I try with the music too. I like different type of music, I born with classical music; that’s my training. So I put lee bit of the classical music, lee bit of the African music, lee bit of the Belizean, Caribbean and just try blend it together in one full arrangement of music.”
The songs on Omolewa Osain feature steel pans and jazz improvisations along with Garifuna drums, reflecting Andy’s vision for “Garifuna Jazz” music. In her synopsis of the music, Gina Scott spoke of the tracks dedicated to the musical icon, who made a tremendous impact on Perrote’s career.
Gina Scott
“There’s one Paranda original called Homage to Andy and there are three songs that have been rearranged from the Watina Album; Weyu Larigu Weyu, Miami and Ayo Da, which is an original from Paul Nabor.”
Carlos Perrote
“Homage to Andy is one of my favorite tracks.”
Delahnie Bain
“Why is that?”
Carlos Perrote
“Because it’s Homage to Andy (laughs). Before I decided to put the name for the CD as Omolewa Osain, in my mind the name was Homage to Andy. But after I realize it’s too straight to tell people how I feel about the legacy of Andy so I prefer put something more strong and more related to him.”
The album also features classical and modern Cuban music. Delahnie Bain for News Five.
The next big event for Perrote is a Christmas concert this Friday at the Bliss Centre. Tickets are on sale for fifteen dollars reserve and ten dollars general.
