Rutu Prisiri live in Amsterdam - Loko

Live performance of music group Rutu Prisiri on the 27th of September 2014 at an Aisa party in Amsterdam.

About Rutu Prisiri

Rutu Prisiri is a Afro Surinamese music group, founded in 2011 and settled in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The group is an initiative of the Sabi Yusrefi! Foundation and the band performs the music styles kaskawi and kaseko. The management team is formed by Marvin Vers as the bandleader and Beryl Milop as the chairman.

Contact details
Rutu Prisiri can be contacted by the following ways:

Tel: +31 (0) 6 84 222 399 (Beryl Milop)
Tel: +31 (0) 6 84 69 334 (Marvin Vers)
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: http://www.rutuprisiri.com

Facebook:   / rutuprisiriband  
Twitter:   / rutuprisiri  

MORE ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF KASKAWI MUSIC

THE ORIGINS
As we all know, during slavery times, the African slaves were brought to Suriname. Though they could not take their material properties with them, their intellectual, intelligent and spiritual properties could not be taken from them. These kinds of knowledge were kept inside of the African people’s hearts, for it was never written in books. So to behold what they have learned from their elders, they had the culture of passing the knowledge to their offspring through songs, stories and music. Most of the slaves came from different tribes, with not only many differences in origins, but also in language, culture, standards and values and music. As it is an original African feature to sing when working, many of the slave songs and spirituals were created on the field. During slavery times they mixed up their separate knowledge about the creation and the use of native instruments, religions, the Surinamese folk language Sranan Tongo, personal experiences, daily events and incidents to create whole new music styles. Three of the styles we will now talk about are Kawina, Kaseko and Kaskawi.

KAWINA MUSIC
When performing Kawina music, the musicians used two traditional wooden drums called ‘koti kawina’ (meaning drum to ‘cut’ the music ) and ‘hari kawina’ (meaning drum to ‘pull’ the music).
Another important instrument that is used in kawina music is a wooden bench or crate with two wooden or metal sticks to beat on. This is called a ‘kwakwa bangi’ or shortly ‘bangi’ (meaning bench). In this case, the word kwakwa simulates the beating sound of the two sticks on the bench or crates. Formerly, kawina musicians used maracas made from calabashes, but now they use two cylindrical containers with special canna seeds inside, mostly made of zinc. These are called ‘seki seki’ (meaning ‘shake’). These shakers correspond with the two drums and also have the same cutting and pulling function in their separate names: ‘koti seki seki’ and ‘hari seki seki’. Nowadays, they are also called ‘ sik sak’ or ‘zig zag’. They also used a handmade timbale, which is now replaced by a conga. But they still call it ‘timbal’. In later times, the kawina music was given an extra drum called the ‘skratyi’ or bass drum.

KASEKO MUSIC
Kaseko music is quite ‘modern’ Afro Surinamese music, performed with modern electrical instruments. In this music style there is a snare drum or a drum set or parts of a drum set. In the later years, the skratyi (bass drum) and snare drum often seem to be enough.Sometimes there are also two modern maracas.
A bass guitar and an electric guitar are part of a kaseko instruments set, together with a synthesizer or keyboard.

KASKAWI MUSIC
Kaskawina music, shortly called ‘Kaskawi’ is a creative mix of kaseko and kawina music and it was created in the late eighties by Bryan Naarden and Kenneth Vorswijk a.k.a. ‘Master Sirius’. The kaseko part (kas) is formed by the electrical instruments and the wind instruments. The kawina part is formed by the acoustic instruments. The past years kaskawi became the most popular Afro Surinamese music style.

© 2014 Rutu Prisiri
All Rights Reserved

Music formation Rutu Prisiri is a trademark of Sabi Yusrefi! Foundation.