[Entertainment]

Legacy -new and power packed

by Mahes Perera

mahes @sundayobserver.lk

There was a time in our music industry, when Ricky Bahar took music lovers by storm with his mellifluous voice. This was when after leaving college he was invited to be the lead vocalist of the band Steelers and overnight the band became a huge success in Sri Lanka and subsequently in Europe.

A winner of the Male Vocalist of the Year Golden Clef Award organised by the Sunday Observer, Ricky Bahar bursts into the music scene again, this time leading a new power packed band called Legacy.

Their sound is out of the ordinary - they undoubtedly will make a distinctive impact on our Western music industry. Quite naturally since the other six members of his band are experienced and strong musicians.

“There is a need in our music industry for bands to provide good music. There is a kind of vacuum that needs to be filled in the scene. The members of my band are a set of dedicated musicians and we are of the same mind set. So after a few deliberations we decided unanimously to band together and formally launch ourselves as Legacy.

You might wonder why we chose the name Legacy when we are launching out as a new outfit. Ozzie Nugara our keyboardist came up with the name, we threw up other names as well and finally settled for Legacy since each musician of the band has a legacy behind him or her,” reveals Ricky Bahar who has fine tuned himself to lead Legacy to great musical heights.

Legacy apart from Ricky who has an excellent repertoire ranging from pop, rock, jazz, r&b, standards, even classical and who has the expertise to put over a song with absolute ease, has inherited his vocal talents from his father Ishan who was considered the ‘Beat Boy Extraordinary’ of the legendary Jetliners and few musicians today could surpass him.

So be it of Ricky whose voice training under the late Lylie Godridge has held him in good stead, and today he is in a class of his own.

Ozzie Nugara the keyboardist is today “a highly respected and sought after recording and sound engineer” as well. He’s had his fair share of experience playing with Arabesque, Apple Green with Noeline Honter and Gypsies. His expertise has taken him for performances in Switzerland, Germany, Finland, Canada and the States.

And now back home he is responsible for the arrangement of the music of Legacy.Nilantha Ariyarathna, the bassist’s fretwork has developed into a fine art and his knowledge of the different rhythms in music gives that extra thrust to the band. Handling the PA system as well he ensures that the band “sounds fantastic night after night.”

The female vocalist who takes centre stage is none other than the versatile Shanelle Fernando whose passion for singing and entertaining has taken her to performances at exclusive venues and functions in Sri Lanka and even abroad.

A formally trained voice, Shanelle has an incredible voice range that can take in anything from pop, rock, jazz to classical.

The brothers Seneviratne, pianist Dilip and guitarist Malik are no strangers in our music scene. Dilip with Legacy has the task of selecting the band’s repertoire and has the experience of working with many bands including Steelers, Ricky’s first band. Malik on the other hand is a guitarist with an original style of playing and has had stints with many pop bands and more recently with Bathiya and Santhush.

Keeping the band tight in rhythm and beat is young Diren Sabaratnam, son of the late Mohan Sabaratnam who was a role model for other young drummers during his time. Diren has inherited the fine artistry of his father and as Ricky says “never misses a beat.”

Legacy have had many “dry runs” before they decided to go official thanks to event producer Imran Packir Saibo who has assisted them considerably.

“We’ve played at many up market corporate events including dinner dances, had stints at Zetter, at weddings and at R&B on Friday nights,” comments Ricky. In fact as we learnt later after this meeting, Legacy will now be a regular feature on Friday nights and what’s more they have in their bag a contract to play for this New Year’s eve at Trans Asia! Good luck Legacy, make strong music waves in today’s scene.

Gee Tharu concert

Sri Lankan singers and musicians created musical history when they performed at Gee Tharu which was staged at London’s Indigo 2 Millennium Dome on June 1 this year.

The artistes Neela Wickremasinghe, Sunil Edirisinghe, Edward Jayakody, Ishaq Baig, Nirosha Virajini, Lakshman Wijesekera, Nelu Adhikari and Chandana Liyanarachchi. This was the first time that such a fabulous concert was held at Indigo 2.

The singers were backed by an orchestra led by Rohana Weerasinghe with tablists Wijerathna Ranatunga and Hemapala Gallage, keyboardist Suresh Maliyadde, guitarists Mahinda Bandara and Mahendra Pasquel, violinists Kalani Perera and Susil Amarasinghe and flautist Priyantha Dassanayake.

The concert which was a resounding success was presented by Palinda Samarasinghe.

Down Memory Lane

Down Memory Lane the prime sing-a-long music concert of the Moratuwa Arts Forum will go on the boards again on July 6 at 6.30 p.m. at the Ranmal Holiday Resort, Moratuwa.

The opening theme song Ole Folks at Home with herald another enjoyable evening of entertainment organized by MAF. They are proud to say that this is the eleventh consecutive year they have been holding Down Memory Lane and it has helped the Forum to raise funds for many projects including the uplifting of amateur talent.

This year the professional band Super Pink N. Purple will provide the musical backing for all the events of the evening.

Autumn Leaves

A committed music enthusiast and artiste pianist Deepa Kudahetty who hails from Galle will be giving a piano recital on June 28 at the Hall de Galle - Fort. There will be two shows on that day one at 3.00 p.m. and the other at 6.30 p.m.

His programme will include works by Beethoven, semi-classics and standards. An old boy of Mahinda College and a music instructor at St. Aloysius College, Deepa Kudahetty has held successful recitals in Galle. Tickets will be available at the entrance.

Exotic favourites

The Pearl Fishers opera was the result of a wealth of creativity the seas of Sri Lanka has to offer.

What’s more, according to experts seafood dishes though highly exotic are nutritious.

What ever seafood you desire make a visit to the Seafood Cove, Mount Lavinia and dine at fresco until next Sunday with the melody of the Indian Ocean in your ears. You can request your acclaimed favourites. After all did you know that the Japanese are the world’s greatest consumers of seafood and they have the highest life expectancy.

D. S.

Swarna Sara

Leading Sri Lankan artistes will band together to aid the primary section of D. S. Senanayake College, Colombo to establish a computer laboratory.

Those who will be on stage on June 24 at the BMICH to perform a scintillating programme of songs will be Victor Ratnayake, Sunil Edirisinghe, T. M. Jayaratne, Ishak Baig, Nirosha Virajini, Rodney Warnakula, Sivakumar and Nilukshi.

The Orchestra of SLBC will be playing the music for the singers, which has been composed and arranged by Wasantha Rohana.

The event is being organised by the Old Boys’ Association and tickets will be available at the gate.