A performance to remember

By Mahes Perera

It was a performance to remember as the quartet Replay led by Ray Gomes bassist took the stage to journey the audience through a magical tour of melodies and in turn added a new dimension to their musical expertise.

Lovers of straight ahead jazz, modern and contemporary jazz blues funk and R+B were out in full force to greet the quartet who performed last Wednesday at the Colombo Courtyard, and to soak in the vibes of melodies that were old but given a new dressing, rarely heard around the selected night spots.

Replay

The personnel of the quartet are all experienced and well-known names in the business. Ray Gomes the leader and bassist has moved swiftly from a sideman to head the group and is recognised for his talent to fit into any scenario - be it pop or jazz.

Perhaps capturing the limelight is Revel Crake the guitarist whose name over the years is synonymous with music.

Vocalist

Son of the illustrious Gerry Crake, a remarkable pianist and vocalist of the early years, Revel has certainly inherited his distinctive style not only when playing the guitar but also in his vocal sylings.

Making the whole sound intriguing and exciting is the pianist Dilukshi Sirimane who succumbed to the pull of the music vibes to leave a legal career much to the surprise of everyone. But now in hindsight the audience enjoys every simple note, chord and phrase of her playing, her in style piano and vocals, extraordinary and very much in demand.

Making definite and catchy cymbal and skin statements is the drummer Jude Thiagarajah who has been on the scene for sometime, more in his first love-rock music but has proven that he is capable of spurring the other musicians to give of their best be it in contemporary jazz or in captivating Latin.

The evening was filled with a wide selection of music and songs.

There were blues, funk and R+B as well, music that satiated the thirsty audience, comprising many young and old music lovers.

Applause

The performance opened with the scintillating 'Morning Dance' which drew an approval applause from the audience present and kept toes a tapping and the body language moving to the tempo.

Other familiar tunes were an up tempo interpretation of 'A Foggy Day' and Revel Crake's version of 'Easy Come and Easy Go', followed by Ray Gomes singing 'Corcavado'. Pianist/vocalist Dilukshi Sirimane picked up the mood with her version of 'Midnight at the Oasis' and Amy Winehouse's 'Round Midnight'.

The music of Santana throbbed out with Revel Crake pulling out all stops to create the exciting sounds on his guitar. To cool it off there was 'Goodmorning Heartache' and 'Georgia On My Mind', standards given that modern appeal and of course many more.

"It's a weekly happening scene and we are happy that more young people are moving towards appreciating our kind of music. We are making a supreme effort to make it sound different and attract them so that their music vision is wide", said pianist Dilukshi Sirimane. The quartet Replay with their performance showed that it is the live element that crowds a venue and stimulates the audience. For those in the know it was a performance to remember.