Ghana percussion compared

I guess my focus on West African percussion was till now a bit (not exclusively) toward what is now Southern Nigeria, the Yoruba and Igbo cultures, partly due to the African Diaspora connection of Yoruba culture with Cuba and Brazil. I started with Afro-Cuban percussion (the well-known Conga and attached smaller Bongó/Bongos drums), among other small percussion instruments, like bells, scrapers, etc., and later wanted to learn more also about Afro-Brazilian percussion. The knowledge about the latter (Brazilian percussion) is not yet as profound, but the comparison between Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian percussion I find intriguing; both the similarities and differences, even within partly shared Yoruba and Congo African retentions.

CUBA/BRAZIL COMPARED

You have percussion instruments common to Cuba and Brazil, partly of Yoruba origin, such as the Shékere shakers, but - on the other hand - the shékere-derived, more metal (beads)-based, Cabasa developed in Brazil, not in Cuba. You have hand drums that are quite similar, such as the Conga-resembling drums used at Capoeira dances, and the shape similarities between the Brazilian Timbau drum and Bocu drum in Eastern Cuba (conical, like the Yoruba "Ashiko" drum). Other drums are more unique for either Brazil (small frame drums, big bass drum) or Cuba (Conga, Bongó a.o. ).

More interesting differences within percussion use between Brazil and Cuba, in general, can be mentioned, such as the much more use of “tambourines” and small frame drums in Brazil - less used in Cuba -, or the double bell (agogo) common in Brazil and Samba, and known in Cuba, but used less than the single bell. More specifically, you have instruments in Brazil that were not in Cuban traditions, and vice versa.

Interesting indeed, yet not the theme of this post. It might become a topic for one of my blog posts – comparing Brazilian and Cuban percussion in more detail - , but I need to study it a bit more.

ANOTHER COMPARISON: GHANA AND NIGERIA

Instead, I opt now for an –admittedly preliminary – comparison of traditional musical and percussive cultures within Africa, between two regions: Southern Nigeria, which I have studied before more profoundly, and Ghana, which I have studied less.

I emphasize that it is the traditional music, original folk, I focus on, and I know that cultures are dynamic. Both Ghana and Nigeria have rich, vibrant (modern) musical cultures in the present, since decades using traditional folk styles for modernized “fusion” pop genres, with foreign (Jazz, Funk, Hip Hop, Reggae) ones, since the rice of Highlife in Ghana already from the 1870s, as an early “Pop” genre, including Western Jazz influences, spreading also to other countries like Nigeria.

The fusions continued and modernized since then more up to the present, but always with references to and influences from traditional music forms (Akan, Yoruba, etc.), mixed now with later Western of Afro-American genres (Funk, House, Dancehall, Hip Hop), resulting presently in a commercially quite successful genre like Afrobeats (a.k.a. “Afro pop”), and derivatives like Hiplife, popular among youths in both Ghana and Nigeria. This genre “Afrobeats” (some prefer the term “Afro pop”, for its confusion with Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat genre),even internationalized in recent times, with commercially successful artists like (Nigerian) Burna Boy.

TRADITIONAL MUSIC

I am now, however, more interested in the traditional culture, after all the local “folk music” base within all these fusions, also instrument-wise.

I know by now quite something about (South Nigerian) Yoruba and Igbo drums, for instance, and other percussion instruments they use, and their differing contexts. I even own and play some of them regularly (Udu, Shékere, Ashiko, Ekwe log drum), studying others more theoretically, but ardently. There is overall a strong Yoruba and Igbo influence on my percussion playing.

Other percussionists I know, also in the Netherlands, seemed to have specialized more in the Mande-regions (Guinee, South Mali, Senegambia), especially those playing Djembe (and Dundun) drums. I myself only a bit, and in part. Congo region percussion (also with retentions in the Americas), I wanted to study, but found too little (online) resources, unfortunately. Still other percussionists choose to focus on Indian or Middle Eastern percussion – often people with that background themselves -, but let’s focus on Africa now.

There’s not much more to it: I just did – on the other hand - not get around to pay as much attention to Ghanaian instruments: other priorities, obligations, time limits, etcetera, etcetera. That while there are by now quite some sources to study it online.

The underneath documentary shows some examples of instruments and playing of Ghanaian traditional music (Ashanti and otherwise) in present times, while discussing whether traditional music is endangered in modern day-Ghana, as it was affected since colonialism, and now by Western cultural influences.

AMERICAS

There is a link of what is now Ghana, and its Akan people (one of the main peoples in Ghana), with the Americas, as relatively many Akan or related slaves ended up in some colonies, notably parts of Jamaica, Suriname, Bahamas, and Guyana. It is assumed – with however deficient accuracy – that over 40% of enslaved Africans in Jamaica were Akan (called often Coromantee), having left a mark in Jamaican language/patois, folk culture, and indirectly in later music genres and practices (eventually Reggae), in rhythmic patterns, call-and –response vocals, and other aspects.

The same applies in Suriname, where remnants of Akan/Ghanainan languages are even still found among Maroon (escaped slaves) populations, belief systems, as well as drum types, rhythmic structures, etc. In the short video underneath, a Ghanaian finds out a Maroon of Cromanti/Akan descent (in Suriname) still can communicate in his language.

This has been studied quite well by now, but less known is probably the fact that also in Puerto Rico, parts of the southern US, and even more unknown in the Pacific Region of Colombia, Western Venezuela, there were Akan-speaking slaves from the Ghana region, helping to shape local Afro-Colombian or Afro-Venezuelan musical cultures.

Some find it in Puerto Rico’s Bomba genre (with indeed barrel-like drums as in Ghana), and in rhythms in the Pacific state of Chocó in Colombia.

All good and beautiful examples of cultural (African, in this case Akan) resilience, despite the horrors and dehumanization and deculturalization efforts of slavery systems in the Americas.

What is, however, the original percussion culture and tradition of Ghana itself? Is it as rich and varied as, e.g., the Yoruba percussion culture I already know?, are aspects (spiritual, material) comparable between these musical cultures, in both these former British colonies? How does it musically/percussively compare/fit within the wider region? These questions I try to answer now (somewhat), after some additional study.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

First, broadly some contextualizations. Ghana and Nigeria are geographically not so far apart, comparable to the distance between, say, the south of France and the south of Spain. The whole region is however quite varied, with in between Benin and Togo (former Dahomey), the Fon Ewe people, with their own culture, and various peoples and cultures within Nigeria and Ghana itself. Later, different colonizers caused some “cultural distance” between francophone Benin and former British colonies Ghana and Nigeria, also influential in Anglophone African pop genres (Highlife, Juju, later Afrobeats, etc.). Language plays a role, even in creolized variants.

Unfortunately, several European colonial powers captured and bought slaves from all these areas, forcibly bringing them to the Americas. The Dutch and English for a period had preferential access in Ghana, the French in Dahomey (Benin) – hence the strong Benin influence among Afro-Haitians - , Portuguese, and later also Spanish, among the Yoruba, British (also) among the Igbo, etcetera. On the other hand, as I already mentioned, Akan/Ghana slaves also ended up in Spanish colonies, and Yoruba also in British colonies, like Jamaica. Studies – nowadays also with DNA analysis - also show Congo and Igbo descendants among Afro-Jamaicans, besides recorded strong Akan influences.

Africans of Congo descent are even more widespread throughout the Americas, used and enslaved by all colonial powers.

The spread of Islam reached both the North of Ghana and Nigeria, prior to formal European colonization, the latter bringing also European Christianity, notably its Protestant variant, to southern Ghana and Nigeria, now even more present and adhered to there than in nowadays largely secularized Europe.

DIFFERENCES

Just like Europe is not all the same, and you start noticing differences – even in folk culture – when you travel from, say the North of France and cross the Pyrenees toward southern Spain, including different indigenous instruments most commonly used: accordion and bagpipes in France, castanets and acoustic guitars in central and southern Spain (and tambourines in between).

The same applies even more when comparing the rich musical and percussion cultures between Ghana and Nigeria. I noticed this soon enough, even if looking superficially at most common drum shapes and types, for instance.

CULTURAL CONTEXT OF GHANA

The North of Ghana can be considered part of the adjacent Sahel, Mande-influenced region spreading through Guinea to Mali and Senegambia, and eastward to Burkina Faso. Here the Dagomba people, and other, Gur-speaking ethnic groups (Guro, known for masks, aslo inhabit Ivory Coast), live. Dagomba and related peoples speak the Dagbani language, and account for about 16% of the total Ghanaian population. Ethnically, they are related to the Mossi people of Burkina Faso.

These are Islamic influenced regions, characterized by more string instruments, specific talking drums, melismatic (“trembling”/sung vowel spread over several notes) singing, and as drum type also the (orig. probably Mande/Mandinga) Djembe is known, as well as drums made of calabash. Here the Griot culture (travelling musicians and storytellers, often with talking drums and harps/kora’s) is interesting. Especially the Dagomba in Northern Ghana are known for the use of talking drums within Ghana – called Donno, when adopted by the Akan later. In North Ghana – toward Burkina Faso - (among the Lobi people, also in Burkina Faso), the local xylophone (or balafon), known as Gyile, usually with 14 wooden keys, is common.

AKAN

The central part, and parts of the Western South of Ghana are largely Akan-speaking, where the Ashanti kingdom was once dominant. The present-day regions of Brong-Ahafo, Ashanti, and Western, Central (though rather Southern), and Eastern (see Map) are or became over time mostly Akan-speaking (including the once horrendous "slave port" Cape Coast). The Akan/Ashanti, and related people like the Fante (in coastal areas), were once relatively powerful in the region because of its gold resources, ruling over others, and reaching a somewhat advanced feudal class structure, with the royal house being important. As a whole, the Akan consider themselves royal (all members), only some actually function as royal leaders, which is a structure still proudly existing.

With about 48% of Ghana’s population (and around 40% of neighbouring Ivory Coast), the Akan people (speaking various dialects) form the largest ethnic group in present-day Ghana, which is also important to point out culturally: Dagomba/Dagbani, Lob, Gur,i in the North, and Ga, and Ewe in the Southeast are among the larger minorities (some still with over 10% of Ghana’s population). Different from Nigeria, having more a percentual/numerical “balance” between main ethnic groups (Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, as main ones). Akan are more numerically dominant in Ghana.

Drums, also big ones, are important in Ashanti culture, many played by sticks, and some with curved sticks having a “talking drum” functions, accompanied by - as elsewhere in Africa - bells, sticks, bamboo flutes, shakers, and even a castanet-like “clapper” instrument.

ENSEMBLES

There are different types of drum ensembles, related to different social and also royal/ceremonial functions. These usually involve various drum and percussion types. The Adowa is the best-known social dance with music/drum/percussion accompaniment, with mainly female dancers, but male players/drummers.

The Kete ensemble is the best known of the originally ceremonial ensembles, and played at royal courts, among the Ashanti, also using the various drums in the Akan-speaking areas.

Both the Adowa and Kete ensembles tend to include “roundly” shape drums known as the Apenteme, taller “conga-like” drums, some big drums for special occasions, further: the Atumpan (round, talking drum, played with curved stick), roundish Petia support drums (played also with sticks) and the largest among the Ashanti drums: the Fontomfrom, with a tall, more “conga-like” shape. The Fontomfrom is often even about 150 cm (5 feet) high, (and 60 cm/2 feet wide)!

ETYMOLOGY AND RETENTIONS IN THE AMERICAS

The “Kete” (or “Akete”) drums known in Jamaica and Rastafari culture under that name, used in Nyahbinghi sessions, are however smaller and cylindrical in shape, thus have a different shape to most of the drums in the Ghanaian “Kete” ensemble, despite the shared name, showing Akan influences, at least etymologically (the linguistic study of word origin).

In drum combinations, functions, and patterns there are still Akan influences in Rastafari culture, due to their strong influences among the enslaved foreparents in Jamaica. Yet also influences from the Congo region, and other parts of Africa. That drummed “heart beat” of Rasta Nyabinghi sessions is by most scholars seen as rather a Congo, Central African heritage, via Kumina in Eastern Jamaica. Akan rhythmic influences are found elsewhere in Jamaican folk culture (Pocomania, native Baptist faith) too, as well as among the Jamaican Maroons.

The Aprinting drums among the Jamaican Maroons (I’ve studied them before), has etymological Akan origins again at least, but is further cylindrical/conical shape (not round), like drums elsewhere in Africa. The Maroons are partly of Akan descent, and well-known leaders of them too, but included demonstrated contributions from other parts of Africa, including Igbo, Yoruba, and Congo.

The Apinti drums among the Surinamese Maroons – however – not only in name/etymology resemble the Akan/Ashanti drums (Apenteme), but also more or less in shape: carved, and widening toward the bottom, as in playing style.

Further, there is a ”shekere”-like shaker instrument among the Ashanti (with beads around calabash), called Torowa. This is thus comparable to the Yoruba shékere.

GA

The Ga people in coastal southeast Ghana (around the capital Accra) and part of the Eastern region, have an interesting culture too, though now only about 8% of Ghana's total population. Linguistically they’re somewhat related to the Akan speakers: the Ga language, like Akan and Twi, belong to the Kwa language family.

Culturally there are similarities and differences, and in time the Ga adopted some Akan instruments, like drums, and vice versa. The Ga’s in part coastal location – and around the capital Accra - ensured some more international influences over time, while there were also influences from the neighbouring Ewe (Ghana, Benin, Togo) people, with a rich drumming tradition as well.

While their cosmology and social structure once, originally, differed from the Akan (theocratic/priest – not king/chief - rule, songs for main deity, instead of for kings or chiefs, etc.), over time the Akan influence changed this, though own Ga aspects are maintained. Likewise, most drums and other percussion used among the Ga are adoptions from the Akan and Ewe, but also with own instruments. The double bell (less used among the Akan), and Gome drum (a drum sat on, like a cajón with skin) are typical for the Ga, as well as the by now better known “Kpanlogo” drum.

KPANLOGO

The Kpanlogo drum has a “conga”-like barrel shape - generally a bit shorther than conga’s -, like some Ashanti and Ewe drums, but an own sound and technique, partly related to its antilope skin. Lately, cow skin is used more often, increasing similarity with the well-known (orig. Afro-Cuban) Conga, but with different tuning and patterns. (African retentions in Cuba show overall more Congo, Yoruba, and Efik/Calabar influences).

Kpanlogo is also the name of a genre and ensemble, that arose only since the 1960s and became quite popular in wider Ghana (after independence in 1959), but the drum named “kpanlogo” used in it, is in fact a new name for the older, traditional Tswreshi drum. The Kpanlogo/Tswreshi drum tends to combine with djembe, dunun, and bells (gankogui), within current Kpanlago ensembles. That “gankogui” bell is a double bell, and is an adoption from the neighbouring Ewe culture in Benin and Togo, and also in a part of Ghana. That Ewe culture is very rich in drums too, including conga-like shaped drums too, of various sizes. The Akan partly adopted that double bell later in their ensembles, but traditionally use single bells, such as slit bells.

EWE

In Ghana's Volta region, in the SE, there are the Ewe people, more dominant in neighbouring Togo. They account for about 13 % of the whole of Ghana's population, and have a rich percussion culture too (like the Fon in Benin).

MUSICAL STRUCTURES/PATTERNS

What Yoruba and Akan music in general share is that they solidly fit within the sub-Saharan (West) African characteristic key- based, “polyrhythmic” category, with different, interlocking rhythms played at the same time in one piece, with the bell(s), or wooden sticks and shakers, and support drums functioning as “time keepers”, with some lead drums having freer roles, often answered by other “improvising” drums, as a "call-and-response".

Vocals likewise tend to have that call-and-response structure, reflecting the age-old principle (both natural and spiritual) of “variations on the same theme” and “continuing life despite challenges and interruptions/obstacles”.

There are some differences though, related to “spiritual” functions. These seem more present in Yoruba pieces (chants, rhythms), dedicated often to Yoruba deities (“orishas”), involving therefore “spiritual possession”, and, in musical terms, an “apotheosis” or simpler: peak, highpoint. This translates in rhythms that a deity with specific characteristics (like the thunder and strength god Shango) enters a body of dancers, in some kind of trance, at a “peak” moment. Despite one’s personal spiritual beliefs about this, it certainly adds an attractive fervor and “dramatic development” to the music.

Ghanaian music, especially by the Akan and Ga, - as well as Ewe music - have some of these characteristics too, as spirits and ancestors were traditionally also worshipped, but less prominent, as now more common are “social” dance ensembles, or those ceremonial music genres for chiefs or kings, requiring some steadiness within its intensity, mostly achieved instead by dynamic improvisations and call-and-response.

RETENTIONS IN JAMAICA (MUSICALLY)

Both these aspects are found in Jamaican Reggae and other music in the Americas from the African Diaspora. I wish to focus on Reggae especially, since I am a Reggae fan since my teens. I am fully aware though, that also Surinamese music (traditional and later popular genres, like Kawina and Kaseko), or folk music in e.g. Guyana and the Bahamas, bears Ghana/Akan retentions in some of its aspects, as does – as some assert – Afro-Puerto Rican Bomba (with improvised) drum-dance interactions.

Reggae is – moreover - I think very interesting for the keen listener seeking African retentions in it. It has a “swing” aspect from Griot/Mande Africa (via Blues, Jazz, and R&B), alongside straighter rhythms and polyrhythm aspects, that are steady yet interacting continued, but in many Reggae songs elevate toward a “peak” or “highpoint” as in Yoruba or Congo, or old Akan, traditions. Translated for the modern drum kit in, e.g. the “crash cymbal” crowning/emphasizing a rhythm, as a temporary rhythmic climax. People who never dance to Reggae (those people exist) – confirming the stereotype, mostly (but not always) White people outside of Jamaica - , often don’t even notice this specific African retention.

Reggae musicians outside of Jamaica sometimes (not always) fail – or are culturally unable – to have that “peaking” aspect. Little use of “crash cymbal climaxes” - of otherwise skilled, steady, and tight drummers - betray that lack, that is perhaps forgivable (another culture, not theirs), but still a pity. The connection with this hidden African retention is mostly more present in Reggae by Jamaicans themselves.

Reggae’s steady rhythmic flow also shows Akan/Ghana retentions, as some kete or other drum patterns (call-and -response), and vocal-wise both some “harmony groups” Reggae was once known for (Abyssinians, Culture, Wailing Souls, Israel Vibration, a.o.), but also in the precursor to Rapping, the rhythmic talking or Toasting on music. Though similar vocal styles are found in other parts of Africa (and South Nigeria too), Jamaican Toasting/Chatting vocals still often shows some interesting “Akan rhythmic” aspects.

The later Dancehall “riddims” (music/instrumental), even the recent Digital “ragga” variant, also clearly encompass African rhythmic retentions, specifically even Ghanaian ones in the “interrupting” counter patterns. That “polyrhythm echo” makes the rhythmic complexity of Jamaican Dancehall in fact stronger than that of “simpler” (most) Hip Hop beats from the US, which might surprise some.

MY PERCUSSION

Not to make this too much about me, but I am in fact someone who is playing percussion for over 10 years now, and reside in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I participated over the years in many jam sessions there, playing different genres, played with some (Reggae) bands, and played with African and “Latin” musicians as well. I also compose songs including my percussion.

Like most percussionists I know, I over the years I gathered many big and small percussion instruments (new, second hand, etc.), mostly from the wider African diaspora, turning my home in a semi-“percussion museum”, focussed on the African diaspora.

You have more people like that, I know, but what is relevant for this post, is how much of the “Ghana percussion” came into all my percussion activities. I personally started with Afro-Cuban and Yoruba patterns and instruments, soon also obtaining affinity for Congo, Mande (djembe, dundun), and Igbo musical cultures, and in the Americas: Haiti, Brazil, Colombia, a.o. Ghana stayed a bit behind, it seems (in instruments and patterns).

Yet not so much as I myself thought. Years ago I learned several bell patterns (also for double bell) including some associated with the Akan people, trying to fit them with different genres, and in the grooves. The bell pattern known as Asadua, in 12, played as: oXoXoXoXXoXXo (o=count, X=beat) is just an example of a bell pattern from Ghana that became part of my repertoire, like the Ashanti one: XoXXoXoXXoXo. Both can add nicely to a groove, of different genres!

I obtained over time a carved, small djembe that some assume is from Ghana, because of its characteristics. Could well be (Ivory Coast is also possible: often also carved, but there is an Akan influence there too): see photo.

I also have a small Surinamese Maroon (Djuka) “apinti” drum, with certainly Akan physical characteristics and retentions. A bit small for an adult person with big hands (my hands happen to be even relatively big, with long fingers, people tell me).. but I can always use just some fingers, not the whole hand, to play it.

I play a larger, square frame drum I sit on as a Gome drum, of the Ga in Ghana (saw some instruction films), even though not a Gome drum as such (Celtic sign on it, probably from Irish music), still playable sat on and with hands and feet too (like the Ga “gome”).

I have “ball shakers”, called Askatua, which are also Ghanaian: difficult to play (gyrating it, wrapped around finger), plus some other small instruments associated with Ghana.

In addition, years ago I studied and composed some songs around Ghanaian rhythmic patterns (partly from books), under a composer name of mine (Bongo Michel), to interchange Yoruba, Congo, Igbo, other African, and Afro-American influences on my playing and composing. This included a Fume Fume-based composition (a Ga rhythm), as well as a Ashanti music-based composition I made, called Sesa. I used other instruments – mostly – that traditional Ghanaian ones (did not have so much), but studied rhythmic patterns.

So, “Ghana” was not absent in my percussion focus and creative activity, but was neither the main focus.

This percussion is a passionate hobby of mine, you can safely say, haha. It also is Africa- and African Diaspora-wide.

CONCLUSION (plus RECOMMENDABLE LINK)

With the Yoruba and Igbo in (S) Nigeria, Akan and other Ghanaian music shares some basic “forest Africa” musical principles: call-and-response (vocals and instruments), polyrhythm and “clave” based interlocking combined rhythms, the “bell” as time-keeper, drums of different sizes, various shakers, wooden instruments, flutes, etcetera.

Differences I find interesting: the “sticks” (curved or not) are used more for drumming among the Akan than among the Yoruba (more hand drumming) or Igbo.

Historically formed differences in social structures play a role. Ghana and Akan society – once wealthy/powerful due to gold - knew chieftaincy and royal courts, in which drum ensembles functioned. Yoruba music had some stratification and chief/royal functions as well, but included more maintained “spiritual” deities, with different functions, associated with natural/environmental aspects, sea, rivers, thunder, requiring own rhythms to invoke such spiritual deities. Akan music, by contrast, transformed into more “social” and “ceremonial” in functions, even if having originally an own spiritual spirit-ancestor cosmology. Steady danceable rhythms – and variation – thus developed with dynamic flows, but less climax (i.e. possession)-based.

Igbo society in SE Nigeria was less authoritarian organized and centralized, with more disparate small-scale villages, requiring less “ceremonial” heaviness, foregrounding more a “natural, mellow flow”, aimed at dancing and communal living. As said in the above documentary: dancing and listening to/making music (rhytms) are among all these peoples part of a holistic whole, as in most of sub-Saharan Africa.

Within this, differences still are evident. The relatively “rounder” drums are more recurring among the Akan and the Ewe (alongside straighter drums), but less found among the Yoruba (more barrel-shaped, "hourglass"-like, or conical/cylindrical).

These different regions between Ghana and Nigeria all have specific instruments that are unique for each region, as well as drums or other percussion instruments with similarities with those in the other regions: the double bell can be found commonly among the Ga, Akan, Yoruba, and Igbo, with somewhat differ shapes. The same applies to talking drums, though most indigenous among the northern Ghanaian Dagomba people (relatively big talking drums in size), but adopted also by Akan and Yoruba.

Several online resources study and describe this in more detail, also with video examples, so no use for me “reinventing the wheel”.

This website I can recommend, as it did a good job giving an overview - with visual/video examples - and descriptions of several Ghanaian traditional music types, even if not exhaustive. Commercially based, but very informative by itself: see: https://ghanagoods.co.uk/

Combined with other online sources, one can now through self-study online, already certainly get a good idea from Ghana’s traditional music, and its survival in the present.

Reggae music lovers (in the Netherlands): DJ Ewa

INTRODUCTION

How people got to be reggae music lovers or fans has always fascinated me. Maybe partly because reggae still is off/outside the mainstream, also in the Netherlands. It is not found that easily, let’s just say. It requires (to a degree) an extraordinary life path: that is, different from copying the masses, or simply following what’s commonly on television or the radio.

Reggae has of course since decades gone international and widened its fan base, but I have known individually quite different reggae fans within the Netherlands. Black and white (and Asian, or mixed etc.). Males and females. Old and young. Some with little education, some highly educated. Of different class backgrounds. Some combine liking reggae quite equally with other genres (e.g.: some with African, funk, soul, some with hip-hop, some even with non-black music genres), while others on the other hand adhere almost “strictly” to reggae music, and do not get into much else. Some like roots reggae more than dancehall or vice versa. There are even reggae fans – believe it or not - who do not smoke the “ganja herb”.

Furthermore, some have an interest or sympathy for the related subject of Rastafari, some do not, or even despise it. The latter, despise, I find somewhat odd since Rastafari is not the same as reggae, but is nonetheless connected to it.

These differences (and similarities) between and among reggae fans/lovers intrigue me, also in relation to personal backgrounds. That’s the reason why I would like to interview specific individuals who love reggae.

Before this I have interviewed 5 persons – reggae lovers I know, “breddas” (meaning “brothers”, or "friends" in Jamaican parlance) of mine – here in the Netherlands.

I started the series on this blog with a post of June 2012, when I interviewed Abenet. In April of 2013 I interviewed Bill. After this I interviewed Manjah Fyah, in May 2014. For my blog post of August 2015, I interviewed, somewhat more extensively, (DJ) Rowstone (Rowald). In August 2016, then, I interviewed Vega Selecta.

DJ EWA

This time, already October of 2017, I interview another “bredda” of mine, that I know from the Amsterdam reggae scene. It is DJ Ewa (Iwan Huyck).

I have known him in fact for years, having been to many events where he was DJ/Selecta or organizer, including Café the Zen (Amsterdam East), but also other places, such as Club Caprice (later King’s Club) or elsewhere in Amsterdam. I knew his connection to the erstwhile Easy Times coffeeshop: a famous reggae-minded place – with almost a legendary status among reggae fans. It had regular reggae DJ’s, was often quite busy, located at the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam. It stopped as such, though, around 2004.

It was a bit before my time, but many people I know (including an older brother and friends), mentioned it to me. DJ Ewa became a regular DJ there, I soon heard.

Ewa is therefore a kind of a "veteran" Reggae DJ in Amsterdam, being also somewhat older than other DJ’s, as well as than the other people I interviewed before for my blog.

Ewa (Iwan) was born and grew up in Suriname, and later migrated to the Netherlands.

Underneath, our conversation based on some main questions (in bold letters). His answers (translated from Dutch, here and there slightly reformulated) are the texts in italic. Additional questions or comments by me are furthermore in between what he says, and are not in italic (M: is me, Michel).

Since when (what age) do you listen to Reggae music?

Since I was around 12 years old, I think. At that time I lived a while with my sister (in Suriname), and my brother-in-law had a record player with a set of records. Not all I liked so much, but some music I liked: notably some Rock and Soul that my father used to play before too. Yet I also encountered at my sister’s something by Peter Tosh. That I loved, and it became a strong inspiration for me.

I also heard Bob Marley before a bit, but Peter Tosh caught my attention much more at first. From that I got to other reggae: Bob Marley among them.

What appealed to you in reggae music (or Tosh)?

What attracted me to Tosh were his voice, as well as his lyrics. He had really “deeper” lyrics. Already since young I was a kind of a “deep” thinker about things, and that touched me, connected me to Tosh’s music as well. I analyzed his lyrics and found personal things. Peter Tosh was my biggest inspirer.

This influence extended to my affinity for sunglasses: I was influenced in wearing them by Peter Tosh, often wearing specific sunglasses too. You notice that in photos of me..

M: After that came other Reggae?

Yes. After Tosh, I found Bob Marley also interesting, and a while after that I also began to listen to and love Ijahman Levi.

Ijahman (Levi), I found, had someting peculiar, and unique to me. Something I hadn’t heard yet in other music: it is a “sigh” that you hear in almost all of his songs.

M: He has a beautiful voice, of course.

Yes. And he sighs even while he sings, consciously. I had not heard that yet of any other artist. It’s in most of Ijahman’s songs. It’s almost like he sings “Blues”, I think.

M: Ijahman Levi certainly made some classic, enduring songs..

For sure..

M: Some critics claim that Peter Tosh had made some albums of “lesser” quality as well. But that is a matter of taste, of course..

That is indeed just a matter of taste. He preferred going his own way, instead of being directed by Chris Blackwell and commercial goals. I understood and respected that. While another producer before him, Lee Scratch Perry, sold Wailers records without legal artist credits. These ended up being pirated in Britain and elesewhere in Europe without any financial compensation for the Wailers. The Wailers (with Tosh) did not like this.

M: Perry once said about this that he just did that to get them a first entry in the market, as a way to promote the then unknown Wailers “out there”..

Yes, but only he (Perry) made money out of this then. Also because of such experiences, Tosh decided to go his own way.

What other music genres did you listen to then?

Alongside to Reggae, I also listened to other music, notably Rock. I liked Creedance Clearwater Revival, John Fogerty I liked. Good music I found in the work of Deep Purple, ACDC.

I served in the army (in Suriname) – at around my 20th year - and during that time I, besides to Peter Tosh and Bob Marley, also mainly listened to this kind of Rock, like ACDC, or also the Alan Parson’s Project, who were pioneers in “electronic music”.. They had good songs like Eyes In The Sky..

To be honest, at home I mostly tend to listen to this Rock music, more for work I make mixes focussing on Reggae. That’s more work to me than anything else.

M: Those Rock bands have slower songs too

Yes, even Deep Purple has nice “slower” songs. One of my favourites was also Eric Burdon (working with the band War), who also showed a Blues influence. I liked that too. The lengthy song Tobacco Road I liked: telling a whole story, starting Rock-like, slowing down to Blues. It tells an intriguing story about someone having a bad life amidst poverty and addiction, who gets a dream as way to change it, but has to make an “offer” (his life)..

M: I know that song..

In Suriname buses, usually music is played out loud, and I used to listen to this song during an approximately 18-minute bus trip in Suriname, but the song was not yet finished when my trip ended, haha.

Further, I like Talking Heads too. I sometimes look up their old video’s on YouTube..

David Byrne is crazy.. in a fun, good way..

M: And Surinamese music: kaseko or bigi poku?

I never felt too much affinity for that. It’s not really my thing. Although, when I used to go to the Surinamese interior – I am not really a city person - , also when I served in the army, I visited Amerindian and Maroon villages, and experieneced their folk music in the pure, traditional form. That I really enjoyed: pure and authentic. Amerindian music, and the Aleke music in Maroon villages: in their orginal cultural context and real life: that I appreciated: really experiencing it, instead of just listening to it.

Fantan Mojah also made a Aleke song, by the way..

M: Funk and other things?

I also encountered Funk, Disco, and Soul, popular at that time in Paramaribo. I knew a then well-known DJ in Suriname, DJ Lord, and his son. His son took over when his father died and organized parties, I then started to play/spin and mix records for the first time as a DJ, taking over from him at times, when he e.g. wanted to dance with women.. I played/mixed mainly what was most popular then: soul, funk, disco.. My earliest DJ efforts..

At that time I also used to dance in a dance group, dancing disco, and later even modern ballet. Modern ballet had some unusual moves for us, and we could not take it seriously and only laughed, haha. That dancing stopped for me when I really started to play/deejay.

I was then about 16 years of age, when I had these first DJ experiences..

Those were my first DJ steps, but around my 20th year, I had to serve in the army for a few years (late 1970s), just prior to to the (1981) coup. I had a good time, but could not do much with music.. I listened to it , though, in-between and during expeditions: mainly Rock, but also Peter and Bob..

Later, when I came to the Netherlands, my interest in Reggae as such increased.

Do you have any preferences in the broad Reggae genre. Does e.g. Digital Dancehall appeal to you as much as Roots Reggae, for instance?

Generally within Reggae my taste is also quite broad. However, I think the classic Roots Reggae, the old school,: is still the best.. I also like the recent Roots Revival, New Roots by Chronixx, Kababa Pyramid and others. I think that is a good generation. For a period you had not much in that Roots area, most artists did Dancehall, with few exceptions. Now I like that there is a group of good New Roots artists..

I like the fact that within Reggae there is much variation: much to choose from.

M: How does this translate to your selection as Reggae DJ/selecta?

I think I am one of the few DJ’s/selecta’s who plays different kinds of Reggae. Many of them tend to play just one subgenre: Dancehall, Dub, Roots.. I vary.. This also depends on where or for who I play/spin.. I often adapt to the audience, despite my personal taste even.

In the South of the Netherlands I tend to play more Roots. In Amsterdam and the Randstad (the urban, densely populated part of the Netherlands between Amsterdam, Utrecht and Rotterdam) more mixed, also Dancehall.

I have organized for a time Roots parties with regular live acts even, such as in de Heilige Zeug (Warmoesstraat) in Amsterdam. Few of the people that I know came.. Other Roots parties I played at had few Roots Reggae-minded people in the audience, and more young people. I then switched to Dancehall. Roots Reggae fans then started to think I do not play Roots.. It made me hard to “categorize” as DJ/selecta for many..

In the same vein, they would never invite me for those Dub Reggae minded DJ events, while I have many Dub cd’s and records, even preparing them for my relative, vocalist/singer MC Priti Pangi (Journy). Yet, they do not know that Dub side of my collection..

How did you develop as DJ/Selecta after those first steps as DJ around your 16th year?

I grew into it . After those first steps around my 16th. When my sister or nieces had birthdays or parties, I sometimes played as DJ. Then mainly vinyl singles..

Not always the guest liked what I played: many expected Surinamese music, and I never played that. Of Surinamese music I only liked Papa Touwtje. There are also nice reggae developments recently, though, in Suriname..

M: That Kaseko is a tradition worth conserving, I think. I see sometimes instruments used, you do not see often: a wooden log for instance..

Yes, certainly. However: live it is often much better than when I hear it on the radio. There are certainly good musicians in Suriname..

You came up with the term Easy Time Crew, that you respresent. This refers to the former reggae-minded café / coffeeshop Easy Times. This was located at the Prinsengracht (not far from the Leidseplein). A bit before my time, but I heard a lot about it. What was so special about it?

Well, it was a real reggae place: open all week, and every day of the week they played reggae. Friday’s and Saturday’s they created a dancefloor with regular dee-jay’s (selecta’s). DJ Aya used to play there a lot, followed later by me.. Since the late 1990s, I played there regularly, up to around 2004, when Easy Times stopped as Reggae-focussed place. I therefore later came up with the term Easy Time Crew, referring to that past there, as DJ at Easy Times in Amsterdam.

It was a very popular and often busy café/coffeeshop for a period among Reggae fans in Amsterdam, even making nearby places switch to Reggae after Easy Times closed for the night: to attract the Reggae fans that visited Easy Times. Reggae artists even visited and performed at Easy Times: Junior Kelly and Glen Washington to name some.

It was influential in that sense. A bit comparable to Café the Zen (Amsterdam East) today: a reggae hotspot. Café the Zen, you might say, took that central role over a bit (also concerning some of the same people), in the Amsterdam reggae scene.. I am now mostly active in/for Café the Zen, alongside quite regular gigs elsewhere In Amsterdam or outside.

You play mainly from CD, as DJ. That is: instead of mp3 or vinyl. That is quite exceptional. How did you come to that choice?

Well, exceptional.. there are a few DJ’s playing CD’s, not just me. I prefer CD's – and more specifically WAV(e) files over MP3’s. The sound quality of CD (wav) songs is so much better. MP3 Pro improved the quality of mp3’s, yet remains still behind WAV’s though, quality-wise. I have a good player (Pioneer) and can mix/work well wit hit.

The best sound is of course vinyl. That’s what I opine too. Yet over time, as DJ/selecta travelling, CD’s became more practical for me: more easily transportable than vinyl albums and singles, and I started to take more and more CD’s instead. I stopped there for quality reasons: I could have switched to MP3s to be able to bring much more tunes to choose from. Yet, as I said: the quality is less. Plus: I like to maintain an overview of tunes. Not too much of them at once.

M: I notice that too.. I used to focus on Wav and CD's for years too, and later heard and made MP3s of my own songs, noticing immediately the lesser quality from Wav to Mp3. While others said it was barely noticeable.. I still noticed it to differing degrees, when listening songs..

Yes. Me too. An added reason is the respect for the artist. Some download/convert YouTube songs to MP3, but you can buy them too legally, via ITunes or otherwise.

M: “The album idea” I miss at times. People tend to think in songs in mp3, while maybe artists have a story they want to tell with a whole album, or it is interestingly representative for a specific period of their career. I heard some say for instance that Luciano’s album ‘The Messenger’ (1996) is great as a whole, while many only get to know a few songs of it. “Cherry picking” songs here and there, this way.

Yes, while an entire CD album is often also cheaper than buying the songs separately.

So, I keep on playing CD with Wav files. I never play MP3s, safe when there is some technical problem playing CDs: for that I take MP3’s on memory stick: just in case.

Do you combine your being DJ/Selecta with other creative activities?

Well, also arranging artists performing: I organized the performance of Verse Ital in Café the Zen, as well as, like I said, also other artists performing under the Easy Time Crew banner in other places too, together with others.

Besides this, and of course my activities as DJ / Selecta, I also am active in visual design, I make flyers, reggae-minded graphic design. This is to be found as Internet site under the name I & I Productions (https://www.facebook.com/easytimeproductions/), also to be found on Facebook. This design is connected to other Easy Time Crew activities. Further, I have a radio show on which I play reggae music, twice a month (Wednesday’s) at the online radio station http://www.royalzionhighness.com .

Further some other things, too.

Does the Rastafari message in much of Reggae appeal to you? How does this relate to your own background, or beliefs?

Well, Rastafari is very broad, with many branches. I am not someone who likes to be in a group. If I would define myself, I would call myself first and foremost a “rebel”. I like the message in Reggae often, but I like to go my own way. As a rebel.

M: That fits with your love for Peter Tosh: who was also known as a rebel..

Yes, haha.

M: Were you brought up religiously?

Yes. My family was and is very religious, very (Catholic) Christian. They raised me that way, and as a youth I followed a Bible study, obtaining even degrees to eventually preach. Yet, I stopped with it, because I asked too much question for them: like I said before, I was always very much “thinking” and researching. Questions such as: If God as Creator created everything, who created God? Questions like that. I remained curious.

Therefore, in seeking answers for myself, as well as to rebel somehow against my Catholic upbringing, I even joined other Christian groups – temporary- such as the Jehova’s Witnesses or Mormons.

M: Those religions: Catholicism, but also Protestantism, want you to be docile, to not think (for) yourself. You like to think for yourself, you told..

Yes. Since I was a child, I was even known within my family for having "foreseeing" visions.

I simply do not like too much “deification” of people, I guess. I respect people like Marcus Garvey and Haile Selassie. I see them not as “religious” figures, though. Marcus Garvey I consider as freedom fighter.

Moreover: I see “religion” as the origins of many wars in this world, a negative influence: the crusades and such..

People believe so much in things, that they stop thinking rationally. While I opine that you should keep on thinking yourself.

I can understand, on the other hand, that spirituality or belief can bring relief, or peace, to people’s minds, in cases..

M: Me too,. I can imagine people find comfort in spirituality, especially when “stuck” in life, somehow..

Yes. Further, the Bible - that I used to study - is very arbitararily made up historically, I have learned. Certain humans just chose certain texts over others. The Bible has been made too holy and unquestionable. Mary also wrote a book, I heard: it did not become known..

I do not see any religious leader for me in the world, preferring thinking for myself. Words of Selassie and Garvey have wisdom, I recognize that, but also words by people like Martin Luther King and Mandela. I see these all more as “prophets”.

Despite all this, I kind of admire Rastas/Rastafari-adherents. I find them in a sense heroic: it is not easy to be Rasta in this society; you will not have it easy.

M: That’s true: you set yourself aside/apart consciously. While “Babylon” is everywhere powerfully spread in society: at work, the music scene, you name it.

Yes. Therefore I have admiration for that life choice as Rasta. I also have good friends active in Rastafari branches, including an order called the Egyptian Order, focussing on Egypt historically, its African roots. Black pharaoh’s, Nubians, themes like that. I found that interesting, I must admit.. I began to understand its appeal. I learn things from that too

Are there any “new” artists, or “discoveries” in Reggae you would like to mention?

Well, Lenn Hammond is an interesting, good artist (related to Beres, indeed) who deserves – I think – a bigger audience in the Netherlands. He is not well-known and popular here, unlike in Britain. I also like an artist like Demo Delgado. I furthermore regularly get sent CDs by several artists: often some interesting things between it, such as the mentioned Demo Delgado..

Any more things you would like to mention?

I miss a sense of unity among Reggae DJ’s and organizers in Amsterdam. Before in Café Caprice (Amsterdam) where I played, or with later Cafe the Zen (Amsterdam) events, or elsewhere. I often organized events with other DJ’s, often younger than me, to promote them. In later reports they almost only highlighted themselves, not the others involved, neither giving me as DJ Ewa some credit. Helping to promote each other would be better, instead of each one seeking their own space, at the cost of others..

M: Like cowboys in a cowboy town, haha

Yes. I think that is not necessary.. I am a bit of a “loner” as a DJ and organizer, not very active in surrounding myself with a supportive “group”, maybe that’s my problem. Still, we could support each other more in the Amsterdam reggae scene, I think. Working together more.

REFLECTION AND COMPARISON

I found this to be a very interesting and insightful interview. It is not even that exaggerated to consider DJ Ewa as a true "veteran" in the Amsterdam reggae scene.

He is older than many other present Reggae DJ’s in the Netherlands, and than the other ones I interviewed. Logically, he therefore “lived” more and has more to say.

Interesting to learn about his time still in Suriname, how he served in the army, and his connections to Suriname. Of the people I interviewed up to now, he is the first Surinamer as such. Kind of odd, seeing the strong proportional representation of Surinamese people among reggae fans (and in the general reggae scene) in Amsterdam, being also a relatively large demographic in the Amsterdam area.

Readers may have noticed, though, that DJ Ewa has a strong own individual personality too, considering himself someone who loves to think for himself, as well as as a ”rebel”. He also admits being kind of a “lone operator” within the Reggae DJ-scene.

ROCK

That makes his story more interesting and idiosyncatic, I think. His affinity for Rock-like music, aside from his Reggae DJ work, may come as a surprise, and is perhaps not very common among Reggae fans, though neither that extraordinary. Several reggae fans I know like other music too, or switched temporarily to someting quite different. I myself am interested in music in the broad sense, study it all, and then choose what inspires me most. I often prefer Reggae, that is true, but listen to (or even play as percussionist on) various other genres too (Blues, Rock, Jazz). At one jam session, at the Waterhole in my hometown Amsterdam, I played percussion (improvizing) on a Creedance Clearwater Revival song I did not really know, or only vaguely, named Fortunate Son. I found that interesting to do. Ewa said he also liked the Creedance Clearwater Revival.

Besides, the other people I interviewed before liked other genres too, albeit to differing degrees.

EASY TIMES

Ewa’s “veteran” status indeed proved here that he had more to say and tell, including his time in Suriname, but also regarding the Easy Times coffeeshop as vivid reggae place at the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam.

I heard so many people talk mostly positively about it, including people close to me, that I really began to think I must have missed something great. I began to repent not having visited it before 2004, since I was a reggae fan already in the late 1980s, and could go out more in the 1990s (although I lived not in Amsterdam then, but not far): when I went to Amsterdam I only went to reggae concerts then at the Paradiso or Melkweg venues. I also heard there were occasionally criminals in the Easy Times coffeeshop, as elsewhere in Amsterdam, or some tensions, but not often, and the vibes were according to most mostly positive. DJ Ewa is connected to that legendary history of Easy Times, hence also his moniker Easy Time Crew.

CD

What sets DJ Ewa a bit apart as DJ is his focus on playing CD songs (Wave files), in a DJ/Selecta scene increasingly dominated by mp3 catalogues or, alternatively, vinyl aficionados.

Interesting, because I had such a CD period too, and deplore – like Ewa – the lesser quality of mp3 when compared to Wave.

VARIATION AS SELECTA

I heard DJ Ewa many times playing at clubs or elsewhere, and I tended to like his selection (always some relatively unknown songs in between more known ones, that I liked), and also noted the variation, he himself says he has as DJ or Selecta. One time at his session the focus was on New Roots, another time more Digital Dancehall than he usually plays.

That flexibility is good in itself, as is adapting to the audience, though you can go too far with it in my opinion. I myself am DJ/selecta with vinyl at times, as well. In selecting I of course think about what the audience might like, but often also think that some songs in my collection are so good that they simply need to be played.

DJ Ewa says, however, that he plays some of those songs he deems great too, and is thus not always just "crowd pleasing" as DJ/selecta.

So, I noted some similarities between me and Ewa in our Reggae tastes, while some of the Rock/Blues he mentioned I knew and liked too (Eric Burdon/War I had on cassette, I liked the Talking Heads).

There were also similarities, more or less, in us both being free-thinking loners, and rebellious.

SPIRITUAL THEMES

Regarding spirituality there were also some similarities but also differences. My parents were also Catholic, but not as strict Catholic as Ewa says his family was, and brought him up. My own (Spanish) mother was kind of critical and joking about the Catholic Church overall. She critiqued the Church’s sinister role during the right-wing Franco dictatorship that ended up making her younger days hard (and poor). At the same time, she taught me prayers (in Spanish) her mother taught to her, about Jesus, - perhaps for some structure in life/parenting - and my parents took me to church events/services regularly, though not too often. I also went to Catholic schools and Bible studies, that were relatively free and open in this modern, democratic time.

Ewa had, by contrast, a stricter religious (Catholic) upbringing. All the more admirable that he, already as a child, kept “researching” and thinking for himself, also about Christianity and religion, as a true rebel. Just like his also rebellious inspiration Peter Tosh, being also critical about Christianity’s role.

Regarding Rastafari, Ewa takes on a rational approach, eschewing deification and group thinking also within sections of the Rastafari movement. He appreciates, however, that the Rastafari movement is broad, and respects Haile Selassie and Marcus Garvey. He also admires Rastas for their heroic life choices in a (White, Western) society that, let’s face it, not always combines well with main Rasta values of e.g. equality, Africanness, and naturality.

OLDER AND WISER

The cliché is that when you get older, you get wiser. I personally think that not all people that get old get as a whole wiser – some do, some don’t –, but due to mere life experience you by definition have learned more, and inevitably obtain some more wisdom, as you get older. I certainly have noted this wisdom in the nice conversation with Ewa, who is older than the other reggae lovers I interviewed before for this blog, but also older than me. It was insightful and interesting for me.

Anil Badal

‘Badal’ is een roman door Anil Ramdas, de Hindoestaans-Surinaamse schrijver, programmamaker, journalist en, wel, intellectueel.

Ik vernam in het verleden her en der van Anil Ramdas, zijn manier van spreken en schrijven, en daardoor zijn interesses en meningen. Hij presenteerde samen met Stephan Sanders het boeiende tv-programma Het Blauwe Licht, dat de VPRO zo’n 12 jaar geleden uitzond, over de diepere betekenis van tv-beelden. Ramdas’ open blik en neiging tot diepgang kwamen mij sympathiek voor. Mogelijk omdat het gepaard leek te gaan met een luchtige relativering. Ook zijn beeldende verhalen over en vanuit India in kranten en weekbladen, en over Suriname, las ik doorgaans met plezier. Verder vernam ik van zijn meningen over maatschappelijke thema’s in discussieprogramma’s of stukken. Zoals over de multiculturele samenleving, het culturele leven, en de politiek. Ik kende hem eigenlijk vooral als presentator, of enigszins afstandelijke commentator, zonder overal al te direct zijn mening openlijk te uiten. Daarin verschilt hij wellicht van zijn vriend, schrijver en columnist Stephan Sanders, wier hoogstpersoonlijke, intieme en toch doordachte meningen minder verhuld tot het publiek komen.

Aan de andere kant maakt dat meer persoonlijker werk, zoals romans, biografische uitwijdingen, of bepaalde essays, juist van Anil Ramdas, des te interessanter. Jezelf mysterieus genoeg houden om duurzaam interessant te blijven is op zich een prestatie. Wel een prestatie die meer bewondering dan warme gevoelens oproept, maar Ramdas toont zichzelf redelijk open, waardoor hij wel warm over komt. Het heeft het effect dat je het gevoel krijgt dat hij iets verhult van zichzelf, maar niet iets onprettigs. Uit verlegenheid, ongemak, eerder dan hypocrisie en/of kwader trouw.

In de roman ‘Badal’ wordt weinig verhuld, maar het is ook formeel fictief. Aan de andere kant is het overduidelijk autobiografisch. De hoofdpersoon Badal is een Hindoestaanse Surinamer in Nederland, werkend als journalist, correspondent, maatschappelijk commentator, schrijver, en televisiemaker. Dat zijn wel heel veel overeenkomsten met Anil zelf. Hij was correspondent in India in het boek, net als Ramdas in het echt was. Badal is gewoon Anil, zou je geneigd zijn te denken. Badal’s vriendenkring in het boek omvat ene Henry, die wel heel erg aan Stephan Sanders doet denken, met diens diepgaande, individualistische analyses, en diens homoseksualiteit. Veel overeenkomsten met de schrijver zelf dus.

Het is duidelijk een meningen-/ideeënroman. Anil’s, eh sorry.. Badal’s meningen en visie op de Nederlandse maatschappij en diens ontwikkeling zou je elitair kunnen noemen. Zo heeft Badal het over "white trash", blanke, volgens hem onderontwikkelde mensen, als teken van gebrekkige maatschappelijke beschaving. Cultuurbarbaren in zijn beleving: anti-intellectuelen die streven naar oppervlakkig vermaak, diepgang vermijden, en die hun rancune en haat makkelijk botvieren of in ieder geval niet relativeren. Wat dat laatste betreft doelt hij met name op het stemmen op populistische partijen als van Geert Wilders. Badal wil in de roman een analytisch/filosofisch stuk schrijven over white trash mensen, en gaat daarom in Zandvoort wonen, waar relatief veel vertegenwoordigers van die groep zouden wonen. Dat is één lijn van de roman. Er is weinig echt contact met white trash mensen overigens: het gaat vooral om de denkwereld van Badal en relaties en gesprekken met zijn vrienden, vriendinnen en familie. Vaak, maar niet altijd, ook Hindoestanen, en verder wat elitaire vrienden.

Dan is er de andere verhaallijn: Badal’s problematische huwelijk en band met kinderen, welke voornamelijk een afstandelijke band is. Dit hangt samen met een derde, significante lijn: Badal drinkt nogal veel en is in feite alcoholist. De hele roman door worden er flessen wijn, whiskey en andere drank genuttigd door Badal, met diens dronkenschap als terugkerende staat.

De verhaallijn van de drankzucht en hoe dat zijn (familie)relaties beïnvloedt wordt vaardig verteld, maar is niet erg origineel. Het thema komt vaker terug in de Nederlandse en internationale literatuur. Origineler wordt de roman door de combinatie met andere karaktertrekken en interesses van de hoofdpersoon Badal. Deze drinkt veel, en kan gerust een alcoholist genoemd worden. Maar wel een met een diepe maatschappelijke en politieke interesse, originele meningen, en in het algemeen in het bezit van een sterke persoonlijkheid. Dat laatste vond ik wel bijzonder, omdat ik om de een of andere reden alcoholist-zijn meer associeer met een zwakke persoonlijkheid.

Die maatschappelijke meningen van Badal zijn eigenlijk geen bijzaak in de roman, maar in zekere zin de hoofdmoot. Deze uiten zich onder meer in gesprekken van Badal met anderen. Daarom is dit naar mijn idee een ideeënroman. De ideeën betreffen dus die white trash populatie, maar ook de opkomst van Geert Wilders’ PVV, het klimaat van haat in Nederland dat volgens Badal daarmee samen hangt, en ook het koloniale verleden van Europa. “Beschaving” is hierbij een rode draad in Badal’s meningen. White trash zijn onbeschaafde mensen, het kolonialisme had volgens hem tenminste nog de ambitie om te “beschaven”, ondanks negatieve aspecten.

Aan de andere kant uit hij ook kritiek op het Westen en diens superioriteitswaan. Dat is wat inconsequent. Toch kan die inconsequentie ook door andere dingen komen: gespletenheid door het opgroeien in een voormalige kolonie, Suriname in dit geval. Dominante waarden zijn in (voormalige) kolonies de Europese, maar die zijn toch extern aan je eigen achtergrond, waarvan andere waarden voortleven. Cultuurcontact is dan onvermijdelijk, zelfs voor een cultuur die liever gesloten blijft (zoals relatief sterk voor de Hindoestaanse gold/geldt).

Die gespletenheid komt interessant naar voren in deze roman. Badal lijkt zich zeer thuis te voelen in de Indiase en Hindoestaanse cultuur. Hij weet veel over India, de Indiase cultuur, Hindoestaanse Surinamers, maar beperkt zich daar niet toe. Hij beschouwt ook andere bevolkingsgroepen, zoals zwarten, verschillende Nederlanders, en Britse kolonisatoren in India. Nu en in het verleden. Zijn wat elitaire visie op beschaving doet hem af en toe apologistische meningen hanteren, zoals over ook de goede dingen die het Britse kolonialisme naar India gebracht zou hebben. Zelfs voor Columbus heeft hij positieve kwalificaties, omdat hij tenminste bredere ambities voor de wereld gehad zou hebben, tegelijkertijd erkennend dat Columbus ook een racist was. Er zijn hier dus overeenkomsten met de eveneens(koloniaal) ”apologisme” verweten Indo-Trinidadiaanse schrijver V.S. Naipaul. Inderdaad min of meer vereerd door Badal in de roman.

Verder heeft hij kritiek op Wilders en diens aanhangers en stemmers. Volgens hem wachten deze mensen slechts op een aanleiding om hun haat te kunnen uiten tegen bepaalde mensen. Ook bekritiseert hij echter bepaalde “gekleurde” intellectuelen, met name diegenen onder hen zonder ironie: “quasi-intellectuelen” noemt hij deze. Echte intellectuelen hebben ironie, meent hij dus. Ik kan het daar wel mee eens zijn.

Gespletenheid is er ook in Badal’s gedrag. Hij zondert zich de ene keer graag af, de andere keer is hij weer een aanhankelijk sociaal dier. Dan praat hij met mede-intellectuelen en goede vrienden, dan weer met “gewone” mensen, zoals in de kroeg.

Het is denk ik het thema van gespletenheid dat de verschillende lijnen in het verhaal verbindt, inclusief het alcoholisme. De overgangen tussen nuchter en dronken zijn van Badal vormen op zichzelf ook een gespletenheid, die de diepere gespletenheid weerspiegelt.

De roman is meer innerlijk dan zinnelijk. Er zijn weinig zintuiglijke beschrijvingen – ook niet echt van de terugkerende staat van dronkenschap - maar juist veel verhalen, analyses, en afstandelijkere, innerlijke gedachten die betekenis geven. Dat is op zich geen bezwaar. Wel toont dat, denk ik, nog meer die gespletenheid. Iemand die enigszins met zichzelf in de knoop zit is meer met zijn innerlijk bezig en kan minder genieten van het zintuiglijke. Eenvoudig genieten van eten, sex, een film, een kunstwerk, wat dan ook, wordt moeilijker. Het geduld en de leegte ontbreken daarvoor te veel. De white trash daarentegen kunnen zelfs van Frans Bauer’s muziek ongecompliceerd genieten, en van simpele films, of wat de commerciële zenders ook op tv uitzenden. Van groffe sex of junk food eveneens.

Badal in de roman geniet echter ook, maar dan van andere muziek (met verhalen erachter en/of complexer), intellectuele gesprekken, van veelzijdige verhalen, sociale geschiedenis, wat chaotisch en improviserend reizen, schrijvers en schrijven, maar ook van dronkenschap. Er zijn simpele en ingewikkelde genoegens.

Ik vond ‘Badal’ een lezenswaardige roman, boeiend en goed geschreven, en daarnaast met een interessante en originele combinatie van zowel maatschappelijke als menselijke diepgang. Vooral die combinatie – resulterend in een ideeënroman - vind ik goed. Zoals Confucius immers ooit zei (vrij vertaald): grote mensen (lees: geesten) praten over ideeën, middelmatige mensen over gebeurtenissen, en kleine mensen over andere mensen.

Dat wil niet zeggen dat ik het met alle meningen en ideeën van Badal eens was. Badal ging met zijn meningen soms voorbij aan de basale ontwrichting door kolonialisme – hoezeer ook gepresenteerd als beschavingsprojecten. Ook de (elitaire) suggestie - vooral impliciet – in de roman dat mensen die veel intellectuele boeken lezen, zogenaamde “hogere” kunst waarderen, en hoger opgeleid zijn als vanzelf betere, menslievende mensen zullen zijn, lijkt mij al te hoopvol. Om niet te zeggen onrealistisch. Daarnaast verschilde ik ook van mening met Badal over kleinere zaken.

Hoe dan ook zijn het voor een groot deel, vind ik, die maatschappelijke beschouwingen en analyses in ‘Badal’ die de roman tegelijkertijd bijzonder en boeiend maken, samen met de boeiend weergegeven menselijke gespletenheid. Een aanrader.

Boekgegevens:

Badal: roman: Anil Ramdas. - 411 p. - Amsterdam : De Bezige Bij, 2011. ISBN: 9789023459040