Hailing from Honduras, as kids growing up in the early 70's & 80's, our respective parents immersed us in different genres of music: Salsa, with the likes of Hector LaVoe & El Gran Combo, Merengue: Luis Quintero, Luis Kalaff, Los Hijos Del Rey to Haitian/French Caribbean Music: Skah Shah, Les Aiglons and Tabou Combo. In the late '80's/...early '90's, Garifuna Music started seeing a renaissance with the emergence of various groups from Belize, Guatemala & Honduras, who gave a different flavor with the addition of instruments to what was traditionally Cultural Music. In those early days, different groups were formed, with the likes of; Los Bravos, Los Satelites, Goubana, Los Aladinos and Turtle Shell Band. Those bands became the precursors to groups & artist such as LaRuni Hati, Mohobub Flores, Andy Palacio, Mimie Martinez & Garifuna Kids. The music in those days seemed to be well received by Garifuna people but did not get the international acclaim that the other genres of music received. Garifuna Lounge is the brainchild of Hector "DJ Chulo" Vera & Pablo "DJ P Whyte" Blanco. The concept was introduced as a way to re/introduce Garifunas & the World Music audience to Punta Music. We say reintroduce because since the emergence of Reggae Music & Reggaton in our community, very little of Punta Music is heard played at parties/events hosted by Garifunas. Just to give you an idea, can you imagine going to a Dominican or Puerto Rican Club and hearing very little Salsa or Merengue played? Well, that's precisely the state Garifuna Punta Music is in. Our music has become a lost art form & our artist, a dying breed of sorts! Garifuna Lounge aims to inject new life to our music & vow to never let it die. With our 1st three (3) volumes of Garifuna Lounge Punta Classics Compilation CDs, we aim to spread the word of our beautiful music to the local & international music audience. Joins us, as we are about to embark in a Journey of different events promoting Garifuna Punta Music. We have not & never will forget those Golden Oldies our parents used to listen to. In fact, we include them in the play list at our events. However, our goal is to highlight Punta Music. I will leave you with the words of Juan "El Cavo" Noralez when he sings, "Yo quiero que mi Punta, Sea #1, asi como el Merengue y la Salsa tambien!
