User:Joe Villafranco/Coolie Rebels

The "Coolie Rebels" is a group of individuals living in Belize, Central America who are dedicated to perform cultural music of the region. The group formed in 1998 in Punta Gorda Town, Belize's Southern most district and started free performances around town, by 2005 they had become one of the top groups in the country, and in 2007 made their first international performance in Houston and Chicago. Belize's culture music called "Punta and Paranda" is filled with rhythm, percussion and is uptempo.

Recently one of Belize's music composer, the late Andy Palacio won an international award for world music, and was named the UNESCO artist for peace in 2007, Andy's music is pretty much the same type of music performed by the Coolie Rebels. In addition, the Coolie Rebels also perform music from the region including Latin, Reggae, R&B, Soca, and "Brukdown".

The Coolie Rebels released their first album in 2001 entitled "Positive Vibes" almost immediately Belize was captivated by the sound of traditional garifuna drums mixed with electric guitars and keyboards, a fusion of African drums, Latin, R&B, and Jazz. The second Album entitled "Caribbean Beats" was recorded locally in 2004 and had a mix of Punta, Paranda, Soca and Reggae. As this article is being written, Coolie Rebels is launching a third album recorded in Punta Gorda Town at JV Studios, the album feature one of Belize's Best Punta Rock Artists "Supa G" and interestingly a bonus track paying tribute to the late king of Pop Micheal Jackson.

Members of the Coolie Rebels, Isaac "Dor" Ranguy, Waylon "Daddy P" Parham, Joe "Mista Joe" Villafranco, Louis "Dickies", Ernest "T-Bone" Jones, Clifford "Pup" Rosa, Samuel "Sammy C" Choc, and Orvin "Dr. J" Jones are dependent on the continued support of the fans from all over Belize and Belizeans living abroad, and will continue to produce rich cultural music for the rest of the world.