Though I've been living in the Netherlands for more then thirty years now, I was born and raised on the Caribbean island of Curacao. I grew up listening not only to tumbas, merengues and calypsos, but also to the traditional piano music from Aruba and Curacao with its waltzes, mazurkas and danzas, kompa from Haiti and the beautiful harp music from nearby Venezuela. The Venezuelan harp was originally also used in Antillean music but has all but disappeared in recent years. I started this album with the intention of recording a few songs from Curacao with Dutch harp player Jopie Jonkers (Jopie Jonkers Groep), so as to bring back the harp to our traditional music. But the project started growing more and more and I ended up with a varied collection of songs from all around the Caribbean region, melodies that I have been playing through the years, some I've written myself, others traditional and a few cover songs. Most of the songs are in Papiamentu, my native language, but "Switi Sranan" has lyrics in Sranan Tongo, the main language in Suriname, "Choucoune" and "Maladie d'Amour" are sung in French Creole. "Cumbia Fever" is in English and Spanish and "La Situación" in Spanish. Willem Hendrikse (lead and harmony vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin, cuatro, bass guitar, guitarron, acoustic bass, piano, keyboards, and percussion). Many thanks to my colleagues and friends who contributed their time, skills and talent to make this album: Jopie Jonkers: Classical harp on “Carnaval”, “M’a Yega Lat”, “Dalia” and “Eraní”, harmony vocals on: “Switi Sranan”, “Choucoune”, “Dalia”, “Ai Dushi Ta Pakiko” and “Maladie d’Amour”. Koen de Cauter: Soprano sax on “Choucoune” and “Maladie d’Amour”. Dwayne Verheyden: accordion and bajo sexto on “Cumbia Fever, accordion on “La Situación”. Alberto Cárdenas García: harmony vocals on “M’a Yega Lat” and “Abo So”. Kok de Koning: harmony vocals on “Cumbia Fever”, “Nanzi Na Tera Friu”, “Choucoune” and “La Situación”, tres on “Nanzi Na Tera Friu”. Album art by Andrea Boada.