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This was supposed to have been a very different story--in fact it had been written, complete with a happy ending and visions of a bright future, and was ready to go to press. Then the inconceivable happened: Word came on Jan. 18 that Andy Palacio was seriously ill, had been airlifted from Belize to the U.S. for treatment, was not expected to survive, and finally, all too finally, arrived the bulletin on Jan. 19 that he had passed away. As the news spread instantaneously through the Internet, an international outpouring of appreciations, tributes and condolences followed. A state funeral and memorial concert were held in Belize on Jan. 25, and he was laid to rest in his birthplace of Barranco.
Sadly, unexpectedly, this story is now about "The Last Time I Saw Andy."
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On the morning of Oct. 19, 2007, there was stunning news: Lucky Dube, a monumental figure in world music, had been murdered the previous day, the victim of an attempted carjacking as he was dropping two of his children off at his brother¹s home in Rosettenville, a town south of Johannesburg, South Africa. He was survived by his wife and seven children. If one measure of a man¹s impact on the world is the breadth and intensity of reaction to his death, then clearly Lucky Dube touched millions around the world.
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³Do you ever worry about having your car taken away in broad daylight?²
--Lucky Dube in ³Crime and Corruption.²
Throughout his life and in his stellar musical career Lucky Dube addressed the very thing that killed him in songs like ³Guns and Roses,² ³Victims,² ³Crazy World,² ³Cool Down,² ³My Brother, My Enemy,² ³Til You Lose It All² and ³Together As One.² Just as he sang of the issues of apartheid, race and politics, he spoke out against crime and violence on a global and a local level....On Sept. 9, 2007 Lucky Dube dropped in for a visit on "Reggae Central" on KPFK-FM in L.A., a little over a month before his tragic death.
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THE EXPERTS PICK THE BEST OF 2007
Our usually contentious panel of experts was stunning in its overwhelming endorsement of Andy Palacio and the Garifuna Collective's Watina, with an unprecedented 12 picks. The boundary breaching African/Latin fusions of Ricardo Lemvo and ColombiAfrica took second place with seven picks each, followed closely by Bassekou Kouyate, Youssou Ndour, and Gaudi's remix of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, each updating traditional roots for the 21st century. Tinariwen's Tamashek guitar-and-camel caravan loped in from the Sahara with five nods. Yes, it was a very good year.
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