The Surinam Music Ensemble was founded in 1981 by drummer Eddy Veldman and bassist Pablo Nahar. Together with guitarist Franky Douglas, pianist Glenn Gaddum, saxophonist Kees Smit and percussionist Ponda O'Bryan, they blend Afro-Surinam, South American and Caribbean styles with jazz bebop. Together it delivered a unique sound that has since been given the loving name Paramaribop, after the nation's capitol: Paramaribo. An enthusiastic crowd of fans has been assembled in ten years' time. The Surinam Music Ensemble caused a furore. But all of a sudden the curtain dropped when the band fell apart in 1992. But in 2011, thirty years after their first note together, they made the decision to reunite. The lineup has, however, changed somewhat: virtuoso Surinam flautist Ronald Snijders has replaced sax player Kees Smit. At the North Sea Jazz Festival the band performs together with Bennie Maupin, who is known from Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi sextet and the Headhunters band and his playing on the Miles Davis album Bitches Brew.
