Kaseko
Summary
Kaseko is a Surinamese popular dance-band tradition with its own ensemble practices and social history. It connects Afro-Surinamese foundations with wider community and diaspora participation. The similarly named French Guianese kasékò remains a separate listening identity.
Contemporary and trending
NAKS Kawina-Kaseko Loco’s 30-year programme combines its repertoire with stories of the band’s development. The Concertgebouw lists the Amsterdam performance on 13 September 2026. The programme shows continuing Suriname–Netherlands exchange rather than a tradition frozen in its first recordings. [1] [2]
History
IJzermans places the modern dance ensemble’s development in postwar Paramaribo. Its history includes changing instrumental arrangements and relationships with older music, rather than one uncomplicated chain of invention. [3]
Musical characteristics
Voices, winds, guitar and bass interact with drums and percussion, including the large skraki drum. IJzermans describes the relationship between stable hari and varying koti patterns across the ensemble. [3]
Geography and communities
A broad coastal Suriname field connects Paramaribo and neighbouring communities. A weaker Dutch field represents sustained diaspora practice, supported by the NAKS circuit and Snijders’s long collaboration with musicians in the Netherlands. [1] [4]
Artists
Lieve Hugo supplies a historical vocal gateway. Ronald Snijders brings kaseko and kawina into jazz, funk and soul; NAKS provides another collective route. These distinct approaches need not sound identical to belong in the wider history. [4]
Related genres
Kawina has its own percussion and social histories. De Bruin’s 1992 account also distinguishes aleke and describes Maroon musicians reshaping kaseko ensembles. Neither connection justifies merging all Maroon or ritual music into kaseko. Kasékò guyanais is separately identified. [5]
References and further reading
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 NAKS Nederland, 30-year Kawina-Kaseko Loco theatre tour. Access note: Relevant public text or substantive indexed passage read 22 October 2026.
- ↑ Concertgebouw, NAKS Kaseko Loco, 13 September 2026. Access note: Relevant public text or substantive indexed passage read 22 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jan IJzermans, Surinamese music research, OSO 1987. Access note: Relevant public text or substantive indexed passage read 22 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 inJazz, Ronald Snijders Boy Edgar Prize, 2022. Access note: Relevant public text or substantive indexed passage read 22 October 2026.
- ↑ Hillary de Bruin, Muziek en dans, in Sranan: Cultuur in Suriname, 1992. Access note: Historical chapter read; its 1992 popularity and industry numbers are not current measurements.
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Source: Kaseko — https://wiki.muglobe.com/wiki/Kaseko