World Music in the X: Fra Fra Sound

This year (November 25th) not only marks the 50th anniversary of Suriname's independence, but 2025 also marks Fra Fra Sound's 45th anniversary! All the more reason to welcome Fra Fra Sound to De X.

Fra Fra Sound is a Dutch-Surinamese-Caribbean musical ensemble with an international reputation. The musical power and inventiveness of this septet have not gone unnoticed outside the Netherlands.
It's striking that Fra Fra Sound feels equally at home on world music stages and festivals, in jazz clubs and festivals, as well as in theaters and concert halls. The same applies the other way around: world music lovers, seasoned jazz connoisseurs, and crossover aficionados are all drawn to Fra Fra's infectious music.
Over the past decades, Fra Fra has given successful performances in Europe, various countries in Africa, around the Indian Ocean, the Caribbean, South America, and the United States.

Since its founding in the Bijlmer district, the band has undergone several lineups and gone through various artistic phases. Initially focused on exploring Surinamese kaseko, kawina, and winti, the urge soon arose to extend beyond these genres.
Since the early 1990s, Fra Fra has used this freedom to explore the extensive connections between diverse musical styles rooted in Africa. Naturally, Fra Fra considers not only Caribbean and Latin American music styles to be part of the music of the African diaspora, but also jazz, blues, soul, and gospel from the United States.

Fra Fra Sound has succeeded in creating a completely unique sound, subtly interweaving Caribbean and African rhythms and grooves with jazz improvisation. An African-Caribbean crossover avant la lettre—that is the most succinct way to characterize Fra Fra Sound's music. Fra Fra Sound is currently presenting and playing material from its latest album, Kula Wroko Kibri.

Line-up:
Carlo Hoop – congas & percussion
Urvin Robinson – drums
Robin van Geerke – piano
Michael Simon – trumpet
Felipe Castro – saxophone
Andrew Moreno – guitar
Vincent Henar – E-bass, bandleader