Suriname’s Bongo Charlie, Who Turned Junk into Instruments, Dies
Obituary: Paramaribo
Key Facts
—Who. Leon “Charlie” Lemmer, known across Suriname as Bongo Charlie, was a percussionist, instrument maker and sound artist.
—Death. He died on the evening of Sunday 2 August 2026 at the age of 70; he had reportedly suffered a stroke around May.
—Signature. He built instruments from natural materials and recycled junk, guided by his lifelong motto, “Everything is sound.”
—Inventions. His creations included the jungle tambourine, the tobobas, the quicka, a home-made xylophone and the EBS-drum, made from discarded utility-pole insulation wood.
—Legacy. Based in rural Commewijne, he shaped Suriname’s music and art scene for decades and taught children through hands-on sound workshops.
Suriname has lost one of its most original artists: Leon Lemmer, the percussionist and instrument maker known as Bongo Charlie, has died at 70, leaving behind a world of sound built from recycled scrap and the raw materials of nature.
A Singular Voice in Surinamese Music
Bongo Charlie, whose real name was Leon Lemmer, died on the evening of Sunday 2 August 2026 at the age of 70, the Paramaribo newspaper de Ware Tijd reported. He had suffered a stroke around May and, after a hospital stay, had been discharged only days before his death; the exact cause was not disclosed.
For decades he was one of the most distinctive figures in Surinamese music — a percussionist and instrument maker whose work sat somewhere between concert, craft and quiet philosophy. Fellow musicians responded with an outpouring of tributes.
His passing, colleagues said, leaves the country without an artist whose legacy will nonetheless keep resonating through the instruments and sound worlds he created.
‘Everything Is Sound’
Bongo Charlie’s guiding idea was disarmingly simple: “Everything is sound — even the wind.” That conviction turned the world around him into a workshop, where discarded metal strips, rubber blocks and hollow stems were all potential instruments.
He became known as a kind of recycling guru, coaxing music out of materials most people throw away. The approach was both artistic and practical, a way of making beauty from scarcity that felt deeply rooted in his rural surroundings.
That philosophy also shaped how he taught. He spoke warmly of workshops in which dozens of children swept bundles of coconut leaves through the air to make sound, discovering music in the most ordinary objects.
The Instruments He Invented
Over the years Bongo Charlie designed a personal orchestra of invented instruments. Among them were the jungle tambourine, the tobobas, the quicka, a home-made xylophone and the EBS-drum, built from insulation wood discarded from electricity poles.
Others were pure ingenuity: a “rainmaker” carved from bush papaya and filled with rice that whispered like a tropical downpour, a flute fashioned from a bicycle pump, and a harp-like string instrument he rebuilt from memory after seeing one in a shop.
He first presented this world of self-made instruments, masks and sculpture at Suriname’s National Art Fair in 1990, and later sold some pieces through the Readytex gallery in Paramaribo.
From Nickerie to Amsterdam and Back
Leon Lemmer grew up in Nickerie, in western Suriname, raised in the foster family of a respected local figure, Alwin Orna. Music surrounded him from the start; as a boy he played in a band with drums made from biscuit tins and oil barrels.
At 13 he moved to Paramaribo, and by the 1970s he was living in Amsterdam, immersed in the era’s rock scene and the clubs around the Leidseplein. He often cited bands like Deep Purple and Grand Funk Railroad as part of that formative period.
City life, though, had its limits for a man who said he needed nature to create. At the end of 1978 he returned to Suriname — and it was then, he said, that his real work began, as he started building drums and listening more closely to the land.
A Life Lived Close to Nature
Bongo Charlie settled across the Suriname River in Commewijne, on the grounds of a former plantation, where the sounds of the countryside fed his imagination. He built instruments, ran workshops and lived simply, close to the materials he loved.
His recorded output included the 1991 cassette “Authentic Feelings,” with tracks such as “Mother Africa” and “Universal Rhythms,” praised in the Surinamese press for its clarity and beauty. He also played in groups such as Mix Water and the peace-themed band Noyaso.
In 2024 he mounted a solo exhibition, “Sound of Nature,” showing his hand-made instruments — a late reminder of how completely his art and his environment had merged.
Remembering Bongo Charlie
Tributes came quickly from across the Surinamese music world. Singer Rosita Leeflang recalled their collaborations and jam sessions, while bassist Glenn Teixeira and keyboardist Sonny Khoeblal praised his creativity and craftsmanship.
Saxophonist Robin Austen called him “a unique sound artist who never got the appreciation he deserved” — a line that captured a widely shared sense that his originality had been under-recognised at home.
For expats and visitors curious about Suriname’s cultural life, Bongo Charlie is a reminder that the country’s music runs far beyond the mainstream, into workshops where a discarded pipe or a hollow stem could become an instrument.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Bongo Charlie?
Bongo Charlie was the stage name of Leon Lemmer, a Surinamese percussionist, instrument maker and sound artist known for building instruments from natural and recycled materials. He died on 2 August 2026 at the age of 70.
What instruments did he create?
He invented instruments such as the jungle tambourine, the tobobas, the quicka, a home-made xylophone and the EBS-drum, built from discarded utility-pole insulation wood, along with a bush-papaya ‘rainmaker’ and other pieces made from recycled objects.
Why was he important to Surinamese culture?
For decades he shaped Suriname’s music and art scene with a philosophy that ‘everything is sound,’ teaching children through workshops and exhibiting his self-made instruments. Fellow musicians remembered him as a uniquely creative, under-appreciated artist.
Sources
Connected Coverage
LatAm & Caribbean expat culture — obituaries, music and heritage.
Sources: de Ware Tijd (Paramaribo); Parbode.
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