Maxell changes tracks from Western music to Eastern classical

Chamikara WEERASINGHE

Maxell Fernando is yet to finish a couple of music tracks to voice his list of songs to be included in his second album.

The singer is now in Sri Lanka with utmost enthusiasm to produce his new CD while his song Gimhane is telecast on Australian TV, Channel 31 on a regular basis, being one of the most requested singles there.

Maxell says, he has lived in Australia perhaps, for too many years, which has kept him away from doing a song album for several years after the first one.

There is something particular about Maxy (as he is popularly known in music circles), who has got his Bachelor of Music degree from Hindu University based in Benares and his technique on keyboards from Australia-New Zealand Music Association in Australia, that he had introduced himself to Eastern music after studying Western music in Australia.

Maxell has studied up to grade four of Western music before he hurled himself to the Indian classical scene to develop his vocal technique to set his tempo in keeping with Indian mode-based Rag music.

He was met by In Tune at his local residence at Negombo. I asked Maxell how he was doing with his new CD.

“Well, it is going well, not so slow and not so fast. I have recorded most of the music tracks.

There will be 20 songs in the CD with four duets, three to be sung with female artists Rashmi Sangeetha, Damayanthi Jayasuriya and Maya Damayanthi, one to be sung with Sanath Nandasiri.”

“I have composed four melodies of my own.

The others were done by composers Sanath Nandasiri, Lionel Halgama , Rohana Weerasinghe , Nawaratna Gamage, Ranjan Wickremeratna and Premadasa Athukorala,” said Maxell.

Q. And what do you want from this CD?

A. I want my songs to be enjoyed by those who listen to them. If these songs should stay in the minds of the listeners for some time , then I would be prompted to think that my efforts have borne fruits.

Q. What kind of lyrics and what type of music you will use in the new album?

A. Talking about lyrical content, I have taken care to give it to the best men in the business like, Saman Chandranath Weerasinghe, Kularatna Ariyawamsa, Ven. Pathegama Gnanissara thera and Wasantha Kumara Hobawaka.

Apart from that I have taken songs written by Sarath Yapa Bandara, Mahinda Chandrasena, Narmada Tharangi Matharage, Rupika Kularatna Manike,Prem Hettiarachchi, Ramani Liyanarachchi and Ven. Ketawala Buddhasiri thera.

I have included love songs, songs discussing social issues, a song about the Buddha, and a song calling the Lord Jesus Christ among the selection of 20.

One may say that music may be based on Indian classical. But I must say fragments of Western music are ever present in every song as with chord progression and musical expression.

The guidance given by Mahinda Seneviratna of the University of Aesthetic Studies, Colombo, and the advice by senior musician Sanath Nandasiri have been invaluable in getting the task together.

What prompted you to study oriental music rising from your first choice, Western music?

I have been composing melodies which came to my mind and I wanted to express them with full force, hence the decision to get on with Western music to study application of chords for harmony.

Then I felt that something was missing when it comes to expressing myself musically to others while keeping my identity of being an Asian-born. So I switched on to study oriental classical music.

The vocal technique appealed to me very much with its variations, such as Murki and Kan.

Who helped you along the way?

Among others I must thank my wife Yula, who has encouraged me to use my talents all throughout.

If you should give advice to up and coming Sri Lankan youth who wish to come to music field what would you tell them?

Follow my path, study both Western and Oriental music, if you want to achieve something with what you are doing.

Anton Jones the prince of baila

Time was when baila was the rage and formed an integral part of the local music culture. However with the present day razzmatazz that passes off for popular music baila too became vulgarised and lost its appeal.

However if there is one exponent who can roll back the years and take fans to those nostalgic days it is none other than Anton Jones, the baila Maestro who is still the toast of many an old timer and much in demand even among the present generation of fans.

Age certainly has sat lightly on Anton Jones who visited this writer at Lake House last week to speak about his upcoming visit to the USA, which incidently is his first to the States - at the invitation of the Lankan community there - and he is billed to give performances in New York, Washington and California. The visit also coincides with the release of his latest CD which contains a medley of 20 popular hits of yesteryear.

Going down memory lane Anton dwelt on his music career spanning 50 years and was delighted to note the same enthusiasm with which he was greeted on stage in those halcyon days had not diminished with the present generation of fans. This is perhaps due to the unique nature of his rendition and the particular brand of his baila.

There is no known singer certainly among local artists who has made compositions of tragedies and landmark events in such profusion as the evergreen Anton Jones.

Hits that readily come to mind are DC-7 (knuckles range plane crash), Asai Bayai (the Nilwala boat tragedy), Marusira (the controversial execution of Marusira), and the tribute to Rukmani Devi.

Although some of these hits were set to Western tunes they became instant hits with the populace and sent crowds wild at musical shows which also saw another unique feat of this versatile singer who made impromptu compositions of all members of the back up band by obtaining their names from the Em-cee only that instant.

Anton shone in an era when such stalwarts as M. S. Fernando and Wally Bastianz held sway on the baila scene. His rich baritone with a tremulous quality was ideally in keeping with the baila tradition while the trade mark Elvis Prestley forelock he sported was copied by many a fan.

On stage he brought a lively dynamism to match his rendition. Anton also lent his voice as a playback singer to a couple of films one of which saw him starring with a bevy of girls in a song sequence.

Anton was one of the few artists who engaged in a profession (he was employed at the Bank of Ceylon) parallel to his music career and it has been his proud boast that he never once skipped duty after returning home in the wee hours after a performance.

With the local music scene saturated with singers mimicking to soundtracks and technological gimmicks, true artists of the calibre of Anton Jones could be considered a treasure in our midst.

- RODNEY

Pakistan’s top Sufi singer entertains Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India

Pakistan’s top Sufi singer Farida Khanum has made her first visit to revolt-hit Indian Kashmir, winning a standing

 ovation at a music festival.

Khanum drew the ovation in Kashmir summer capital Srinagar, urban hub of the Islamic separatist insurgency raging since 1989, as she entertained festival-goers with her classical Sufi songs late Monday.

“It was my deep desire to visit Kashmir and to see the paradise (Kashmir) which was my mother’s native place,” Khanum told the audience at the festival which ends Wednesday.

Khanum, known as “Pakistan’s ghazal queen”, is best known for her musical renderings of great Sufi poets.

The visit by the Pakistani singer to Indian Kashmir came against the backdrop of a slow-moving three-year peace process to resolve all disputes between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan including over the Himalayan region.

Cultural exchanges between the two countries have become much more frequent since the peace process began.

The countries each hold parts of Kashmir but claim it in full and have fought two wars for control of the region since independence from Britain in 1947.

“The people here have a sense of beauty. I’m extremely happy to have come here to perform,” said Khanum.

AFP

Bryan Adams: The Social Worker

Bryan Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a successful Canadian singer and songwriter. He was born in Kingston, Ontario to British parents, and moved with his parents throughout Europe and the Middle East.

Bryan Adams was given his first guitar at the age of ten, bought his first electric guitar at the age of 11 and at 14 moved to Vancouver and started auditioning as a guitarist. He left school at 15, joined a band as a singer and went on the road.

He met drummer Jim Vallance in 1977 and the two began collaborating as songwriters, and before long their material was being covered by many artists. A&M Records was sent some demos and signed Adams to a recording contract at age 18.

He has released 14 albums since then.

In 1990 he joined many other guests (including Michael Kamen) for Roger Waters’ massive performance of The Wall in Berlin. Apart from that he is engaged in many charity projects like Greenpeace’s ‘Saving the Whales’ or Amnesty International.

He recently joined Canada’s benefit concert for the tsunami victims.

One of his most popular success was the album Waking Up the Neighbours in 1991, produced by Mutt Lange and featuring the ballad ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It for You’. This song was a huge #1 hit around the world.

Other soundtrack songs were ‘Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?’ from Don Juan de Marco; and ‘All For Love’ from The Three Musketeers, performed with Rod Stewart and Sting. Adams has been nominated for three Academy Awards.