Kid Dynamite

In the early twentieth century, Kid Dynamite travelled as a stowaway from Surinam to the Netherlands, where he was quite a sight as a black man and became very successful as a jazz musician incorporating Latin American influences. Director Hans Hylkema presents a nostalgic picture of the pre-war jazz scene, using various anecdotes by colleagues and contemporaries. But he also shows the influence of the Surinamese nature worship winti on the music of Kid, who allegedly carried a magical snake inside his body. Hylkema shifts back and forth between Holland and Suriname, mingling past and present in his 'docugraphy' of the Surinam tenor sax player. Kid's wife and two sons are among the witnesses to his career, which reached a deadlock during the war as a result of race laws and never got off the ground anymore. But his music lives on, as proven by the recent recordings for the CD Kid Now.