A natural and creative young pianist
by Mahes PERERA
He had a natural instinct to sit
at the piano and play it. The saying goes that there is a light within
us all and it takes a special talent to illuminate it. That could be
true of young Niduk Wijetilleke, the pianist who was featured at the
Grand Hyatt Dubai and is now featured at the Address Downtown Hotel in
Dubai. He was no sideman when he launched his musical career.
His piano stylings caught the critical attention of many a discerning
music lover, and his personalised brand of music drawn from a blues
background pushes him to take that next step in music. Niduk was in Sri
Lanka on a brief visit and we had the opportunity of not only hearing
him in musical expression but also having a quick pow wow with him.
“In my musical expression I want to be open as possible and not fall
into specified labels. When I started playing professionally at the
Grand Hyatt in Dubai, I was compelled to play what the listener wanted.
Location wise I was shifted from the lounge to the Italian restaurant
and I had to expand my repertoire, play more Italian music because what
was important to be successful is that you have to connect with people.
I can understand that. The same theories operate at my present workplace
the Address Downtown Hotel” said, Niduk when we started our
conversation.
 Are you basically a solo pianist?
“No. I play with groups and bands. I accompany singers, guitarists
and saxophonists. At the recent Dubai Jazz Festival which was a huge
open air show I was the pianist for a group that was featured. We played
not only covers of jazz classics but also originals of mine.
For covers it was John Coltrane’s Equinox and Freddie Hubbard’s Red
Clay. My compositions were “Your Thousand Watt Smile” in funk tempo, My
Uncle’s Day which I played in Latin rhythm to express happiness and a
ballad titled, “In the Moment’ which was a two chord composition and I
drew my inspiration from Miles Davis’ Flamenco Sketches.”
Do you find playing solo inspiring?
“Of course. I’m responsible for the rhythms, melodies and harmonies.
I have to keep the audience entertained and I cannot afford to slacken.
I’ve widened my knowledge since I started. Everyday a musician is
learning something new, there is no end to his learning.
With music you are able to discover yourself and connect with other
people as well and if they enjoy your music then that gives you joy. I
think it’s something special. It’s a priviledge.
A former student of S.Thomas’ Prep Niduk completed his academic
studies in Dubai when his parents moved over on official work. He had
his formal education at the Western classical music of Trinity College,
but on his return to Sri Lanka he was determined to acquire more music
knowledge to break into the music scene professionally.
“I was tutored by pianist Harsha Makalande and he taught me to be
independent in my musical expression. He taught me how to find this
independence. Playing classical music you accomplish technique so that
was a good background for me.
He gave me a lot of encouragement and helped me with my determination
to launch myself as a professional pianist and I now understand what it
means to capture the rhythms and spirit of music.” |
