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| Sunday, 9 October 2005 |
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Features |  |
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Happenings / People Gypsy guitarists perform today by Mahes Perera
The Alliance Francaise in Sri Lanka celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Founded under the companies ordinance No. 51 of 1938, the Alliance institution in the country expanded with the establishment of institutions not only in Colombo but also in Kandy, Matara and Jaffna. Significantly the objective of the Alliance is to promote the French language in Sri Lanka and to establish cultural exchanges between the two countries, which the Alliance has achieved with a great deal of success over these past few years. Many cultural events were organised, the most popular one being the annual Fete de la Musique. Of course there were the musical shows, stage plays, mime concerts, recitals, exhibitions and conferences which were held with regularity. In the next two months to celebrate the golden jubilee the Alliance has mapped out French musical concerts. At the media briefing held on Monday, October 5, the Director of the Alliance Jean-Philippe Roy revealed that the first of these concerts will be held today, Sunday, October 9 at the Barefoot Gallery, at 7 p.m. The concert will, after a long lapse of time, feature two gypsy guitarists. The Ferre Brothers - Boulou and Ellos. They are the sons of the Manouche gypsy guitarist Pierre Matelot Ferret who appeared with Django Reinhandt on recordings. The two brothers are renowned for their powerful and inventive playing of their guitars, in fact according to critics they "play gypsy jazz from the other side of the fence". Both Boulou and Elios have played guitar since their early childhood and Boulou was transcribing Charlie Parker solos at the age of seven. The Ferre Brothers will perform at the Alliance Francaise Kandy on Monday, October 10 and at Alliance Francaise Matara on Wednesday, October 12. On Thursday, November 3 the world's most renowned harmonica player Jean-Jacques Milteau will be in concert in Colombo. He has released his share of albums in Europe and has toured extensively, enthralling audiences with his Blues Harp. The venue is not fixed so watch out for further details. Derana, the new TV channel to be launched on Tuesday by Mahes Perera It was a ceremonial start to the media briefing. The National Anthem was played... the conch shell was blown... the traditional drummers beat their intricate time signatures... and the young dancer twirled in rhythm to the beats... it was a historic morning - the announcement of the newest TV channel - Derana. According to the CEO Anup Chandrasekharan, people in Sri Lanka require a good TV channel they can relate to, and after two years of indepth research, Derana has become a reality. The channel will be officially launched at a 'landmark ceremony' on Tuesday, October 11 at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium. "We decided to take the challenging route, knowing full well the complexities of running the TV channel.
But Derana is going to be different and the launch will be of a magnitude never seen in Sri Lanka," emphasises a confident Chandrasekharan. Derana will adopt friendly interactive formats and creatively structured programming so that viewers will have enjoyable television air time. The channel will break away from convention and mediocrity. The channel will commence with a programming of five hours daily from 6.00 p.m. to 11.00 p.m. At 6.00 p.m. there will be one hour children's belt which will be followed by a half hour of game show programmes with the objective of teaching values to children. A half hour news belt at 7.45 p.m. will concentrate according to the handpicked executives, on 'credible news' which will be followed by comedy based programmes from 8.15 to 8.45 p.m. The music belt will be telecast from 8.45 p.m. to 9.15 p.m. and the programme content will focus on the music of the 70's, folk music, classical and modern. Magazine format programmes can be viewed from 9.15 p.m. to 9.45 p.m. and the last programme for the day will be tele dramas. As a truly Sri Lankan channel, Derana executives expressed the view that they are committed to protect and preserve the heritage and value structure of our society. The language used will be scrutinised and the resulting impression created will be of a positive nature with no destruction to the social fabric of this country. Initially Derana will be received by viewers in the Western Province and from there, the telecast will extend in stages to the Central Province, Southern Province, Nuwara Eliya before going all-island. Backed by a team of young Sri Lankan entrepreneurs, Derana will be a channel of the people for the people and will communicate "the reasonable man's point of view," for the benefit of the viewers. As Dilith Jayaweera Jt. Managing Director declared "Derana is a contemporary young and aggressive Channel." A sing-a-long fund raiser The crusader of Sin-a-long-sessions Sam the Man moves into the spotlight this month with an exciting Golden Oldies session on Sunday, October 16 at the auditorium of the Holy Family Convent, Dehiwela. The show is organised by the Past Pupils Association of the Holy Family Convent and we are told that they will commence the session at 7.00 p.m. sharp. The funds collected from the concert will go towards the development project of the school. Along with the entrance ticket you purchase, you will be entitled to a book of songs which will be sung at the sing-a-long.
Talking about this Golden Oldies session, Sam the Man tells us that songs made into hits by the Carpenters, Perry Como, John Denver, Harry Belafonte, Tony Brent, Jim Reeves, The Platters as well as the evergreens like You Are My Sunshine, Goodnight Irene, Red River Valley, and the well loved songs by Stephen Foster, will be included. Others billed to perform are Dalreen, Ronnie Leitch and Radhika. Sam the Man who started this concept of Sing-a-long with the Y's Men International of Sri Lanka has performed and produced 50 Sing-a-long shows both here and abroad. At this show on Sunday, October 16, Sam will be accompanied by a quartet comprising Thushara on keyboards, Sumith on lead guitar, Ranga on bass guitar and Chummy on drums. Come the month of November Sam will be producing another Golden Oldies Show for the Ceylon School for the Deaf and Blind at the BMICH on November 6 organised by The Resource Development Committee. In the meantime however you can catch Sam the Man at the California Grill Galadari Hotel on Fridays and Saturdays accompanied by the Ernest Francis Combo. MP Retro vibes With rap and hip-hop being popular rhythms of the groovers today, the band Rumours are on the other side of the fence playing retro music and keeping dancers happy on the floor. The month of October will be a busy month for the band. On Saturday, October 15 the Lion's Club of Wattala 306B will be celebrating their Charter Anniversary Ball and Rumours will be spreading their exciting vibes at the Sapphire Ballroom of the Ceylon Continental.
Rumours were a familiar sight on stage at most of the Rugby celebrations in town and play regular dates every second Friday of the month at the Colombo Swimming Club, while on the fourth Friday of the month they perform at the Crescat Warehouse to the delight of rockers young and old. "We will be playing for the Colombo Swimming Club members night on Friday, October 14 and for the forthcoming Oktoberfest celebrations at the German Restaurant on October 22. We are looking forward to the John Keells Rugby Carnival which will be on Saturday, October 29, and of course the New Year's Eve night when we will be playing along with Ultimate at the Colombo Swimming Club" expresses Neomal. With a repertoire that includes the catchy music of Toto, Osibisa, Santana, K.C. & the Sunshine Band as well as Guns & Roses, Rumours have found themselves a place on the fast lane to success. MP |
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| Produced by Lake House |
This five piece group have in their own enthusiastic way found success in
a short period of time. Led by Neomal Peiris, the other members of the band
are Narendra Guneratne, Duminda Hettiarachchi, Dayal Athukorale and Taraka
Wijesekera. 
