Sounds of Suriname
Wednesday, May 28 2008
by Frank Stasio and Lindsay Thomas
Jonathan Kramer has traveled the world in search of endangered poems, songs, music and languages. In March he visited Suriname, referred to by some as the “Shangra-La of Anthropology.” The former Dutch colony is home to descendants of plantation slaves, Javanese indentured servants, Creoles, Chinese, Europeans, Brazilian gold miners and more. There, he recorded the rich and haunting sounds of a musical melting pot. Jonathan Kramer is now an associate professor of Music and Arts Studies at North Carolina State University, and an adjunct professor of Ethnomusicology at Duke University. He joins host Frank Stasio in the studio to share the sounds and stories of his travels.
