Author Topic: Surinamese videoclips you will enjoy  (Read 325 times)

Yovo

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Surinamese videoclips you will enjoy
« on: March 28, 2014, 09:57:06 am »
The reason why I haven't been contributing much lately is that I'm busy writing a book about Surinamese music. I have been planning to write it for a long time, but only recently I found a publisher who showed interest in the project.
There is something unmistakably African about the music from Suriname, even more so than in other diaspora styles like reggae or salsa, and the deeper I delve into this musical goldmine, the more I fall in love with it.

Basicly there are two kinds of Afro-Surinamese music: first you have the music from the creole population, mostly living in the city, and then there is maroon music from the back country. In the past the musical scene was dominated by the city creoles, and I used to post videos by some of my favorite artists on the old AA forum. Since that forum is gone, I will be reposting them again in the near future, if anyone is interested.
For now I'll focus on maroon music. With many members of the maroon community moving from the bush to the city and "urbanizing" their traditional music, things have changed in Surinamese music. You could say that in the past decades there is a kind of maroon rennaissance going on. Whatever you call it, the result is a very infectious mixture of styles, with complex African polyrhythms and Congo-influenced guitar parts.

So here are a couple of recent videos by some maroon artists that I (shamefully admitted) know nothing about - but don't you just love them?

Here is a nice one by Olly Man


This charming lady singer is called Thelma


Lucien Misiedjan is a singer from the N'Dyuka tribe in the eastern part of Suriname

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newfan

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Re: Surinamese videoclips you will enjoy
« Reply #1 on: April 03, 2014, 02:51:25 pm »
Makes me want to know more.
I'll have to get your book -- if it's not in Dutch. Will it be in English?

Yovo

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Re: Surinamese videoclips you will enjoy
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2014, 05:30:04 pm »
I'm afraid it will be in Dutch. Depending on how good it sells, the publisher could consider an international edition - they have done so before with other books. But to be honest, we don't expect that it will attract much attention outside the small circle of lovers of Surinamese culture. There are all in all about one million Surinamese - roughly half of them living in Suriname, the other half in the Netherlands, so that makes a rather tiny market. But who knows?

soukousman

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Re: Surinamese videoclips you will enjoy
« Reply #3 on: April 07, 2014, 10:00:36 am »
Thanks for the clips! I don't have enough time to view the others since the time is prior towards my second class, but I'll be sure to check them out. I also look forward to your publishing of Surinamese music, I have checked out Kaseko where the primary characteristics are based on the percussion instruments , but also with the addition of the trombone, trumpet, saxophone, and snare drums.

Yovo

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Re: Surinamese videoclips you will enjoy
« Reply #4 on: April 07, 2014, 02:43:51 pm »
As promised here are some old ones... first a kawina tune from 1960 by Big Jones.
Kawina is basically rural music - it originated shortly after emancipation. When each plantation developed its own dance music, the region of Commewijne, or Kawna as it is called in Surinamese, spawned the dance that became most popular.
Big Jones actually was an uncle or grand uncle of my mother-in-law. He was known to improvise his songs on the spot. This video is part of a documentary called Faya Lobi, or Burning Love, which is the name of a flower. The songs says: All the little children go to town - and what do they see there?
Paramaribo has changed much, but it's still a beautiful city.



Another one by Big Jones, this time accompanied by the orchestra of Eddy Vervuurt. Back in the 1950s this composer and band leader owned the only machine for cutting gramophone records in the country. He also founded the first privately owned radio station. He recorded prolificly, including poltical speeches and of course commercials, like this one for Parbo Bier. The chorus says: Parbo beer is tasty beer, Parbo beer is better beer.



Finally an orchestral piece by George Schermachers band, recorded somewhere in the 1950s or 60s. George Schermacher (on the picture right) founded Suriname's first jazz band back in the 1930s, but he was also one of the pioneers of the musical style called bigi poku or kaseko. While kawina originated in the country, bigi poku and kaseko are city styles, played by brass orchestras in a way somewhat similar to Ghanean danceband highlife.  The tune is called We gwe ma we kon baka, meaning: we go away, but we'll come back!


« Last Edit: April 07, 2014, 03:43:52 pm by Yovo »

Yovo

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Re: Surinamese videoclips you will enjoy
« Reply #5 on: April 09, 2014, 11:39:26 am »
Doing research for the book, I stumbled upon a newspaper account from 1977. I never knew that Suriname was invited to the famous FESTAC 77 festival in Lagos, but there it was, a report celebrating the accomplishments of the country's cultural delegation.

FESTAC 77 is known as a landmark in African music. Not just Africa's top orchestras such as TPOK Jazz, Afrisa International, Bembeya Jazz and TP Orchestre Poly-Rythmo were there, but also afro-american artists like Mighty Sparrow, Stevie Wonder and Gilberto Gil, to name but a few. Who would have thought that in the company of such international stars a humble kaseko band from Suriname could meet with such success? But it did. The paper says:

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"The audience was driven into a frenzy, and as we found out later, our Kaseko music turned out to be very popular in Lagos. In every market stand and curiosity booth we heard it booming out of taperecorders."

The kaseko band that thrilled the National Stadium in Lagos on Januari 22, 1977, was led by Alwin Cederboom. The report doesn't mention the name of the band, so I suppose it was put together especially for the occasion. Alwin Cederboom had been the co founder, together with Henk Spalburg, of the Kaseko Stars. I think it's fair to assume that musicians from that band made up the core of the band in question. Here they are with a tune from 1974, a "badjie" (or Bagi) - a form of kaseko originating in Guyana. Henk Spalburg ("Spally") is the man playing the trombone, Alwin Cederboom plays the double bass.



Also partaking in the delegation was a cultural troupe of Surinamese maroons. They performed several so called winti dances. Winti is the Surinamese traditional religion not unlike Haitian vodu or Brazilian candomblé.

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The second performance spectacularly ended with the Kumanti fire dance, which left the audience breathless. Some Nigerian tribes know the Kumanti, which is originally from Ghana. This winti can do astonishing things of which dancing on fire is but one. Our delegation, having tasted success, on returning home out of pure joy had a winty play that literally shook the festival village. The beating on the drums was heard for miles around and many spectators witnessed how the wintis came to take possession of the dancers and party with them.

This is a recent video of Surinamese maroons performing a Kumanti dance. These dances are very spectacular, even violent... The dancers beat themselves with cutters, walk on broken glass, put hot charcoal in their mouths, yet nobody ever gets hurt. They believe it is the winti who protects them.


tutulu

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Re: Surinamese videoclips you will enjoy
« Reply #6 on: April 09, 2014, 06:20:01 pm »
Yovo...Thats for bringing this to our attention.

This is a lot to go through.

I have to admit I do not know anything about music of Surinam.

Did you travel to Surinam to get  first hand information from the elders, get rare pictures etc?

Rare pictures will add to the book.

Do you intend to write a brief history of Maroon Music and the giants of Maroon music?

Yovo

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Re: Surinamese videoclips you will enjoy
« Reply #7 on: April 10, 2014, 01:09:08 pm »
I got the idea for this book when I was still a dj collecting records. Since that time I have been there a couple of times, found me a wife, but did not do much research. Right now I'm waiting for my publisher to collect funds that will allow me to go back again and talk to as much people as possible. In the meantime I will talk to Surinamese musicans living in Holland - there are many of them over here...

The first part of the book will focus on the cultural background of the regions of Africa where the slaves came from (i.e. Ghana, Togo/Benin, Angola/Congo and Sierra Leone). Then I will focus on the music of the maroons, the music that was played on the plantations and how out of  those traditional roots the modern styles of today have evolved. Finally, the third part of the book will feature stories about legendary bands and musicians. Unfortunately, a lot of them, like in Africa, are no longer among us.

One of them is my favorite singer, Lieve Hugo, who died tragically of heart failure in 1975, when he was just 32 years old.
Here are a couple of songs that show why he was considered King of Kaseko.

First a slow ballad. The words mean: Do not cry, Dorina, don't feel sorry for me. I don't fear evil spirits for my soul is immortal. Many consider this song a premonition of his own death.



This is one of the songs in which he introduced traditional winti-rhythms. What sounds like a strong afrobeat influence is in reality a so-called "Luango" or Congo rhythm.