The evergreen dance movements

The evergreen dance movements you may very well know....or ( the younger generation)  may not know : Slow fox(trot), Slow rock, Quick step, Cha cha cha, Slow waltz, Quick waltz=also known as Viennese waltz, , Rumba, Tango, and last but not least....Rock n Roll !..


Those days, if bands did not have the capacity to play ALL of these beats, the chance to get bookings, was very limited...Nothing has changed here in Sydney...the elite bookings are for versatile bands...not rap, or hip hop bands..There are hundreds of DJs...offering their services at very cheap prices...and happy to just get a gig..so that they can come and give your eardrums a good whack! 




Sunaroma Niteclub...It is interesting to look back..to find that even in the mid-sixties , trendy spelling of things and places..nite instead of night, muso for musician, etc, was in practice.  Let me hurry to say we got the gig at Sunaroma.


Rhythm Knights .. our sign boards... at the top of the bandstand...were two shield shape boards (in keeping with the shield the English knights carried on horseback) beautifully hand written in calligraphic style. Sunrise mudhalali mentioned it was 'bohoma lakshanai'..and the patrons..the affluent residents of the area...thrilled to our music 3 days a week...wednesday, friday, saturday..and the talk within bands and musicians, was " how the hell did Jisty get this gig !"


Yeah, these well attired people....ladies with their elegant clothes..and the gents with their smart outfits..danced  with grace and great coordination.  These days you'd see this sort of dancing only in ballroom  dancing competitions..How they motivated the band !


 Sunaroma patrons...yeah  they did the Slow Foxtrot, the Quick Step, the Cha cha, the Slow Waltz...the Viennese waltz, the Samba, the Tango...and towards closing time we played 
Rock and Roll and these fantastic people...JIVED so splendidly...to the rocking  music...They loved it..However, they did not get on the floor when we played TWIST  music... we  simply dropped this from our repertoire...


Then, there was vivacious Charmaine with Rhythm Knights...very much sounding like Ella Fitzgerald...and she wowed the Colombo 7 folks... Mubarak Thaha's Tropicana NiteClub found itself losing quite a bit of their patrons...making their way to the more classy venue..


continued in the next blog

Sunaroma nite club

Nazeer Hamdoon asked me if I can bring my band to play at his daughter's (Zainab) wedding. Sure, I said. Nazeer was at a wedding...in Sri Kotha which was the UNP headquarters where they hired the main hall for weddings etc. Nazeer said " machan, yours is  the only band that plays Ya Nabi salaamu alaikum..when the groom is making his way to the 'throne'..to tie the thaali on the bride's neck. Make sure this happens..."our buggers will really open their eyes...with surprise and awe"


Rhythm Knights..Jisty on piano, Quintus on drums, Winnant on bass guitar, Benny on Alto saxaphone, Neville on trumpet.... performed to great approval by the guests...MH Mohamed was there and came up to me..and asked how we know this 'Ya Nabi'..and I answered that I am a muslim and he said " wonderful"...


As the evening progressed, we played popular requests..remember ..burung kaka tuan'? they loved it...and then we switched to tunes that were current in those days...and bringing to close we played 
baila...and there were 'thurukku thoppi' men who gyrated opposite the bandstand !


It was funny, crazy...but for us ..the band.. it was a great result .Nazeer said that he was going to recommend us to Sunrise (Football ..ie soccer..Club) mudhalali who was in the process of opening an exclusive Night Club in Colombo 7..to compete with Mubarak Thaha's Tropicana Night Club..in Horton Place 


to be continued

How it all started

As a small boy..I watched and listened to my aunt ..my mother's sister..  Umma Kaija (Hafil Vilcassim's wife) play the piano we had in our Fort Galle house. I was fascinated with the way she poised her fingers over the keys..her left hand moving differently to the right hand which was busier than her left. I said.."that's a nice melody or words to that effect as a small boy would speak.


" aender maaven, ( my son)..this tune is called auld lang syne..it is a nice tune, isn't it? " I nodded in approval and told her that I like to play like her..."Yes, you can ..but there a few things that you have to learn...and I'm sure that you'll be able to do this..you know why..because you are interested and you are a small boy..and when you grow up..this interest will make you become a good musician."


She made me glad with that remark..a remark that lit my music aspiration!  It was like...yeah, Umma Kaija thinks I'll be able to play the piano. A simple remark that kept me dreaming of becoming a... some sort of a musician.


So , I put a pillow on the piano stool to make it higher and and held my hands high over the keys of the piano..the way Umma Kaija did and I went through  the motions similar to what Umma Kaija did...but the tune did not happen the way it did when my aunt played..I tried again and again but it did not happen.I could not figure out what I was doing wrong !


 So, let me take you to the days when we moved to Karlsruhe gardens in Colombo..Ceylon. I attended Carey Baptist College, and so did my brother Rizvi...Now, he..Rizvi, had friends coming to see him at home ....and there was this guy Joe Candappa who brought a ukelele with him ..and Rizvi and Joe used to get into our 'office' room and start singing and playing and my brother Rizvi sang..'When the Blue Moon turns to Gold Again'..a song by Elvis Presley...


"Let me come into the room..Rizvi," but he said he cannot let me in...and I said that his friend's ukelele playing is useless...and told him " wait till you see..I am going to get a ukelele and I am going to get my friends to come and sing..it'll be better than what you are doing...By the way, my brother had a wonderful voice...but his weakness was that he could never keep time..but I did not tell him that.


to e continued