Stonetree Grows in Belize
Ivan Duran got his
first guitar when he was fourteen years old and living in Belize. Within
a relatively short amount of time, he had also called Mexico, Spain
and Cuba
home. Then, in 1995, he returned to Belize
with one project in mind: to build a quality recording studio, Stonetree Records,
in his home town of Benque Viejo, near the Guatemala
border. In fact, he told me in a recent interview that the recording studio “is
on the same street where I used to play futbol when I was growing up”.
In order to pursue
his dream, Ivan sold most of his musical instruments to generate cash flow. But
he kept his first guitar, which, he told me, “plays a part in every album”. It
took about two years to get the studio up and running. During that time, Sr.
Duran played in a project called Free Access. The group had one concert and
recorded one album that provided “an unforgettable experience for all those
involved”.
Stonetree recently
celebrated their tenth anniversary. Looking back, the results have been nothing
less than fantastic. The studio has produced nearly thirty albums of music that
embrace a variety of cultures, including Garifuna, Creole, Maya and Mestizo.
They have been recognized as archivists of historic music while at the same
time pursuing modern trends in world music. Ivan has attended WOMEX (World-Wide
Music Expo) every year since its inception in 1997, where he has “developed
many friendships with people who share the same passion for world music”. In
fact, when Jacob Edgar left Putumayo Records to launch the Cumbancha label, he
contacted Duran, according to Ivan, “to see what was in the works at the
Stonetree lab”. The initial result was the acclaimed Watina, an infectious CD of Garifuna music. In fact, Jacob agrees
with the stories of Duran being a perfectionist. “Ivan has an incredible ear
for detail,” he told me recently, “and he keeps working on songs over and over
again until they are exactly how he thinks they should be”. And Ivan’s
perfectionist’s touch can be heard in the diverse Stonetree recordings, such as
Leroy Young’s Dub Poetry, Wilfred
Peter’s recordings of Belizean Creole, called Brukdown, Andy Palacio’s first CDs and Maya Collection of Florencio Mess.
Ivan and Stonetree
have also worked with the Garifuna Women’s Project for nearly ten years,
recording more than one hundred songs in the Garifuna language with more than
fifty women participating. Upcoming projects for Duran include two more
Garifuna albums with Cumbancha, one being the aforementioned Garifuna Women
Project, backed by the musicians who appeared on the Watina CD. Another recording in the works is by Honduran Paranda
star Aurelio Martinez.
Ivan Duran told me
that the name for the studio, “just came to me. It was more of a feeling: stone
representing the past and our cultural heritage, and a tree that is alive and
growing now”. They have recently released “From Bakabush”, a compilation of
songs from their catalogue spanning the last decade. It’s a great introduction
to the label, including songs from all the artists mentioned earlier in this
article.
It seems that Stonetree
has lived up to the concepts behind its name.
Stonetree CDs are available in Costa Rica exclusively at Jaime
Peligro in Playa Tamarindo, Tilaran and Quepos.
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