Brukdown. A Belizean icon, he has been performing for over sixty years, defining the genre, which combines African rhythms and call-and-response patterns with European harmonies and Belizean Creole lyrics. Brukdown has become the music of the people. Mr. Peters, an accordion master in his own right, learned from his father on the family farm.

"We had no radios or cassettes then, only what we could play…and with some white rum and water, people would dance through the night," Mr. Peters says. He and his band play weddings, dances, holiday celebrations, and other major events around Belize, as well as touring the world playing festivals.

His playing style has been described as "heavily influenced by the sound of car horns in a Belmopan traffic jam." His band provides a cacophonous rhythm section to back his rollicking accordion playing. The rest of the band, for that matter, is all rhythm: Egbert Beltran plays the jawbone of an ass and the brake drum of a car, beating it with a metal stick. Ruben Flores beats on the mahogany \'Boom and Chime\' drum; one side with a mallet - the boom side - and the other with a drum sack - the chime side. Mr Peters\' son, Wilfrid Peters Jr, plays tumbas, which outside Belize are usually called congas. Samuel Myvett pounds away on banjo and relative newcomer to the band, Lennox Blades, plays electric guitar. Lennox replaced Allie Staine who, according to Mr Peters, wasn\'t holding his rum like he used to. This is soulful, up-tempo, traditional dance music that puts techno and computer driven dance music to shame. Mr. Peter\'s Boom and Chime Band is the last of the genre to survive and regularly perform its music.

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Haul Up Your Foot You Fool">

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Mr. Peter's Boom & Chime
Caribbean
Belize
Mr. Wilfred Peters is the uncontested King of Brukdown. A Belizean icon, he has been performing for over sixty years, defining the genre, which combines African rhythms and call-and-response patterns with European harmonies and Belizean Creole lyrics. Read more on Mr. Peter's Boom & Chime...
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