Contributions by Herman Dijo, J. Ketwaru, Guilly Koster, Lou Lichtveld,
Pondo O'Bryan, and Marcel Weltak
When Marcel Weltak's Surinamese Music in the Netherlands and Suriname
was published in Dutch in 1990, it was the first book to provide an
overview of the music styles originating from the land that had recently
gained its independence from the Netherlands. Up until the 1990s, little
had been published that observed the music of the country. Weltak's book
was the first to examine both the instruments and the way in which they
are played as well as the melodic and rhythmic components of music
produced by the country's ethnically diverse populations, including
people of Amerindian, African, Indian, Indonesian/Javanese, and Chinese
descent.
Since the book's first appearance, a new generation of musicians of
Surinamese descent has carried on making music, and some of their elders
referred to in the original edition have passed away. The catalog of
recordings that have become available has also expanded, particularly in
the areas of hip-hop, rap, jazz, R&B, and new fusions such as kaskawi.
This edition, in English for the first time, includes a new opening
chapter by Marcel Weltak giving a historical sketch of Suriname's
relationship to the Netherlands. It includes updates on the popular
music of second- and third-generation musicians of Surinamese descent in
the Netherlands, and Weltak's own subsequent and vital research into the
Amerindian and maroon music of the interior. The new introduction is
followed by the integral text of the original edition. New appendices
have been added to this edition that include a bibliography and updated
discography; a listing of films, videos, and DVDs on or about Surinamese
music or musicians; and concise, alphabetically arranged notes on
musical instruments and styles as well as brief biographies of those
authors who contributed texts.
