Guillermo Anderson: A Musician for All Seasons

A Musician for All Seasons

     Honduran musician Guillermo Anderson recently released his ninth CD, “Del Tiempo y del Tropico”. Each of his CDs has its own distinctive flavor and direction. It’s hard to describe his music with a single, catch-all phrase. The term “versatile” falls short. I think a brief synopsis of each album demonstrates this point.

       His first CD, “Desde el Fondo del Mar” was recorded in Italy with his Afro-Caribbean band Ceiba, who play on all his non-solo efforts. The disc contains the song “En Mi Pais”, which has become a modern national anthem for Honduras.

     “Costa y Calor”, his second album, is an experimental album with the band, blending the popular Honduran coastal musical styles of Paranda and Punta into a new sound. It’s a good example of how Anderson takes chances, setting his career apart from the conventional.

     “Mujer Cancion, Cancion Mujer” was produced in association with the Honduras National Institute for Women. One humorous song, “Historia de Manuelito,” follows a day in the life of a man who has agreed to do the home chores and take care of the kids. The rest of the songs have women as the main character. “Haydee,” for example, is about a woman who washes clothes by hand during the day and is the Queen of Calypso by night. 

    

     “Para Los Chiquitos” gets so much airplay in Honduran schools that people who learn about Guillermo this way assume that he only records for children. The goal of this CD is to make children aware of rainforest species in danger of distinction.

   

  “El Tesoro Que Tenes” is dedicated to calling attention to La Mosquitia, a lesser known area of Honduras. Guillermo uses regional musical instruments from this zone, and employs musicians from the area to participate, at times singing in the region’s indigenous language. The production of this CD is in conjunction with Biosphere of Rio Platano.

                                                                        

       “Escarguitos Del Caribe” is a musical collection from the coastal regions of Honduras. The CD includes a video for the title song, depicting immigrant Hondurans longing for some home cooking. The song has been used as the opening and finale for four of the most popular television stations in Honduras.

     

      “Pobre Marinero” is an acoustic solo CD. The songs are stories about a variety people whose lives overlap with the author himself. An interesting concept, indeed. It is also a wonderful vehicle to demonstrate Anderson’s equally incredible voice and guitar picking. 

     Anderson’s newest album is the soundtrack to a book by photographer Hannes Walraffen, depicting historical Honduran sites. The album stands on its own, an eighty minute opus that visits the old banana railway, seaport bars and indigenous Garifuna towns.

    All these CDs are produced by the independent Honduran music label Costa Norte Records and Max Urso, president of the label and longtime friend of Guillermo. Recently, Papaya Records in Costa Rica felt a need to broaden Anderson’s audience by releasing the compilation “Llevarte Al Mar” including songs from each of the Honduran’s albums. All his CDs are available in Costa Rica exclusively at Jaime Peligro stores in Playa Tamarindo.  All comments concerning this article are gladly welcome.