Big Jones & His Kawina Band - Bosoe Bana

The songs on this dutch Philips EP are from the soundtrack of the film/documentary "Suriname" done by Herman van der Horst released in 1960 in the Netherlands.
H.van der Horst won the Golden Bear for the best documentary.

Four songs by Big Jones & his Kawina Band where among the soundtrack of this documentary.
Todays songs is called "Bosoe Bana" which is a bunch of bananas and is about a man who is trying to sell these bananas
The song is from the late 50's (probably 1959) and was a huge hit back in Suriname. I remember during my childhood days (during the late 60's) that the song was still frequently played on local radio stations.

For additional information see the scans of this blog

Big Jones & His Kawina Band – Bosoe Bana (end 50’s)

Alberto Gemerts - Lobie Foe Monie Delta-LP-503

Alberto Gemerts is one of the Suriname great singers, songwriters, arrangers, producers and band leaders.
He was born in 1931 and moved to The Netherlands in the 50's where he formed a band with other Suriname musicians he had played with in Suriname and toured Europe (the Scandinavian countries) with them for almost 8 years without returning to The Netherlands.
Musicians might have been A.Parisius, Johnny de Miranda, Max Woiski, Theodoor Kantoor akaTeddy Cotton but I'm not sure of that.

"Lobie Foe Monie" written by Gemerts is about a thief/burglar sitting in jail and telling us how his love for money put him in problems.

This song is from an album done as a tribute to an other great Suriname musician, singer and song writer "A.Parisius aka Kid Dynamite" who lived in Germany and was killed in a car accident in Hamburg 1963.
This albums was probably done in the same year.
8 of the 12 songs on this album where written by A.Parisius.
Kid Dynamite and his Combo played at the Casablanca club at "de Zeedijk" in Amsterdam during the early 50's before moving to Germany.

A.Parisius aka Kid Dynamite

Gemerts had a total of 6 albums on the dutch Delta label and some on other labels to. He has produced many albums and 45's.

Alberto Gemerts – Lobie Foe Monie

Max Woiski sr - So Wan Lobie

Max Woiski was born in Domburg (Suriname) in 1911 and died in 1981. He moved to Amsterdam in the 30's and started his own Club "La Cabana". At first he started playing only Latin music under the artist name Jose Barreto but went back to his roots in the 50's.
In the 60's he moved to Spain, Mallorca and started a Nightclub.

Max Woiski – So Wang Lobbie

Mohd Rafi & Asha Bhosle

Mohd Rafi

As you can read in one of my earlier posts, the population of Suriname came from all over the world.
The people from India/Pakistan make a large portion of that population nowadays .
Todays song is a song me and my brothers used to sing, somewhere in the sixties, when we where on our school vacation on a plantation called "Meerzorg". It was mostly populated by Hindustani people.
A great uncle and aunt of mine had a grocery store near the Meerzorg dock and a orange plantation where we stayed during our vacations.
We spent many great vacations there, fishing, hunting, catching crabs during the tide and catching song birds who came to the rise fields to feed.

Asha Bhosle

If there are people from Suriname who have more of these 50's and 60's Hindustani songs, that where hits back in Suriname, and want to share them................................ Please contact me.

Both performers are from India

CHOTI SI MULAQAT

A Skratie Pokoe by The Stan Lokhin Band

Front Cover of Album

As I said in my earlier post about "The Wash Board Orchestra" many of the members joined different groups when they broke up.
O.Seymanson (the other lead singer) and Carlo Brandon ( the sax player) joined this group.
When Spider Vox broke up, most members started there own or a joined groups.

Rear Cover with Picture of Stan Lokhin

In the song "Kowroe E Moro Mi" the lead complains about the cold in Holland having just arrived you can imagine, having spend your life in the tropics and now getting beaten by the cold. A "hot" topic among newcomers.
I can speak from experience.

The music style is a Skratie variation ( because of the so called "skratie drum" being so prominent).
O.Seymanson is the lead on this song.

Spider Vox (The Stan Lokhlin Band) - Kowroe E Moro Mi

NAKS Folk Group - Wan Wan Bung Lobi De Ete

NAKS Folk Group around early 70's with traditional instruments


Notes of NAKS Album explaining several styles of Kawina music and historical information

Naks – Wan Wan Bung Lobi De Ete

This is a koti singi in "kawina bigipoku style". Love and goodness are impromisingly being sung of, but several people and every day situations are also made fun of.

Some additional information:
Winti is an Afro-Surinamese religion with a supreme being who has withdrawn from the world and a pantheon of lesser gods. Belief in an immortal soul and the ancestor worship connected with it play a central part in the religion of the Creole population. The music linked to the religious practices is a Surinamese variant of the West African tradition, handed down from the period of slavery, of ritual drum music and dancing before the wintis, the demigods who move as fast as the wind. Each of the wintis has special rhythms and songs by which he or she can be summoned. Their presence manifests itself in the trance dance in which a winti temporarily takes possession of someone's personality. This can happen during a healing ritual, but also at a celebration.

Another form of Creole folk music related to Winti music is Kawina, which arose after the abolition of slavery in 1863. At the beginning of the last century Kawina developed into a major form of popular music for people from the city and the coastal areas of Surinam. Its texts are about all sorts of subjects from everyday life, but mainly about the relations between men and women and about public scandals. They are primarily entertaining songs to dance to, with long instrumental interludes of improvisation by the percussion ensemble. Aside from the texts, the main difference to Winti music is in the instruments and times used and the greater freedom to improvise which the drummers and lead singer enjoy.

What Winti and Kawina have in common is the call of a lead singer, alternating with a chorus which responds with a harmonized refrain, and the interacting rhythmical patterns. These elements also form the building blocks of popular Kaseko music.

Source:http://www.myspace.com/yakiez

CHECK OUT SURINAME DAY IN NEW YORK

KAWINA MUSIC BY BOSE KRIORO

This is one of the oldest forms of Traditional Suriname Music, next to the music of the original habitants of the South American continent "the indians".
It's called "KAWINA", these songs where song by the slaves. Characteristic for this is the form in which the singing is done, a lead singing and the guest/public repeating him.
No electronic instruments are used, the main instruments are, the Kawina drum, the so called "Apintie" drum and a wooden bench.



The group performing in this song is one of the best " Bose Krioro". There are lots of local "Kawina" bands in Suriname, many bands are also a brought, every where Suriname people are these bands are. There are no real Suriname parties without this music.

The beautiful thing of this is that all cultures in Suriname dance to these songs, although it's an Afro American style. But this is normal back in Suriname, all cultures have blended, but holding on to the most characteristics elements of there own culture.
A real Suriname culture is developing 150 years after "traditional" slavery was abolished.

Bose Krioro Song >>>>>> get it here