It's been two days now since 86 year-old musical Legend, Paul Nabor passed away, but still, the list of persons wishing to acknowledge his importance has not come to an end.
Today, the National Garifuna Council released a statement reminding that Nabor's influence was international. His music was influential in spreading Garifuna culture to the rest of the world, and today the NGC lamented his loss.
Indeed, as one of the most influential musicians performing in the paranda genre, Nabor ascended to iconic status. We've been doing a deep dig through our archives, to remember Nabor. Here's what we found:
Jules Vasquez reporting
Did you ever see him touch the stage? Did you ever see him dance?
Deseree Diego, Performed with Nabor
"I will tell you that everybody who knows Paul and who see him on stage, the moves that he has - that's what draw the crowd and I know everybody would want to remember him just showing off on stage."
This is how the crowd reacted at "Y-Not Island" in 2007 just at the opening chords of Naguya Nei...
Al Ovando, Performed with Nabor
"Naguya Nei is like I mean the anthem of the Garifuna people and the struggle of the people and the whole history of Belize. People that hears the song for the first time; he just steps on stage and once the guitar intro comes in, it's like everybody knows this song for like years and everybody gets up and just waiting for the song to begin and for Nabor to start singing and there is this energy I think that nobody else has. I've never seen it with any other musician or artist."
He sang with such intensity, gripped the microphone like his life depended on it. His voice conjured from somewhere deep within…deeper than his throat: a guttural, primal wail, as familiar as an old mahogany door sighing open, as fierce as a battle cry:
In Hopkins, they danced in the rain…At the Bliss, the Bourgeois stood up and cheered…
All over the world, Nabor set stages on fire.
Deseree Diego, Performed with Nabor
"To be honest with you he bring a lot of power. He has his own fans."
Al Ovando, Performed with Nabor
"It's like having a leader with the right direction and you know, you are just filling in - that's one of the biggest thing I think Nabor brought, that spectacle of a show to the audience. As old as he was, giving him all the leverage and all the backing so he could dance."
But perhaps what must endeared about Nabor was that when he stepped off the stage, he came right back to earth.
Barbara Norales, Nabor's Friend
"I think that his experience in life, a lot of times we don't accept the experiences that we have in life like, a lot of people would come and say, oh look at Paul Nabor live in the temple and live poor and he is comfortable with that. That is what makes him, him. That is what makes his soul, his soul, and he is comfortable in that environment. We have spoken about that - the level of humility that he had."
We've still got some more in the old archive and we'll be showing that to you leading up to the funeral.
Nabor's daughter was expected to arrive in Belize today - and from there, funeral plans will be decided.
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